Indonesian logistics startup SiCepat enters electric vehicle business

SiCepat, an Indonesia-based logistics company, has formed a joint venture with NFC Indonesia, a subsidiary of publicly listed PT M Cash Integrasi, to enter the country’s electric vehicle business.

Called Energi Selalu Baru, the joint entity counts two other publicly listed firms as minority investors: PT Digital Mediatama Maxima (Digital Mediatama) and PT Telefast Indonesia (Telefast). The JV firm has also acquired Volta, an electric-vehicle maker based in the Central Java city of Semarang.

Volta electric motorcycle / Photo credit: Volta

Energi Selalu Baru will create a distribution network for electric motorcycles and its battery exchange service by leveraging the logistics capabilities of SiCepat and Telefast as well as Digital Mediatama’s network of retail stores. The manufacturing process itself will be handled by Volta.

For the first phase, SiCepat will also add 5,000 Volta e-motorcycles to its fleet. The logistics startup announced in March that it had raised a total of US$170 million investment in its series B round.

The green economy, including the usage of electric vehicle, is gaining popularity in Indonesia. The government is planning to have 374,000 electric cars, 11.8 million e-motorcycles, 6,000 public charging stations, and 17,000 public battery exchange stations in the country by 2025.

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Jakarta-based super app Gojek also has committed to completely shift its fleet to electric vehicles by 2030.