Zero Motorcycles’ Electric Bikes to Hit Indonesia’s Roads Next Year

Jakarta Globe, Carla Isati Octama, Dec 08, 2014

A screen grab from Zero Motorcycles' website.

Jakarta. Garansindo Inter Global, the local distributor of Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler cars, will start selling Zero Motorcycles’ electric bikes made in the United States by June next year, marking its first step into Indonesia’s zero-emissions vehicle market.

The company also plans to assemble and sell the Vmoto, a cheap electric bike from Australia, in the second half of next year, Garansindo’s chief executive, Muhammad Al Abdullah, said on Monday.

“We are eyeing to market the electric motorcycle in 2015, because we see Indonesia is a growing market for this vehicle,” Abdullah said.

Santa Cruz-based Zero Motorcycles has been producing electric motornbikes, whose performance is on par with their internal combustion peers, since 2006. Zero SR, the company’s latest model, can travel up to 298 kilometers in the city and accelerate from standstill to 100 kilometers per hour in just 3.3 seconds.

Abdullah said the Zero bikes would sell for between Rp 170 million and Rp 200 million ($13,770 to $16,200) in Indonesia, a tag that limits the market to enthusiasts.

For the mass market, Garansindo will assemble and sell Vmoto in the second semester. Each will fetch around Rp 12 million, Abdullah said. That price would be competitive with the scooters that many Indonesians use daily.

“We plan in the future to produce [Vmoto] in Indonesia, but we will do it in stages, starting with [assembling] the completely knocked-down kits,” Abdullah said.

Panggah Susanto, the director general for high-tech manufacturing at the Industry Ministry, said government backed Garansindo’s plan to establish a domestic plant, but did not elaborate on the form such support might take.

Motorcycles are still the most popular mode of transport in Indonesia, with an estimated eight million new bikes expected to leave showroom floors this year.