Electric Motorcycle Financing Still Risky, These Are the 3 Main Challenges
Electric motorcycle financing in Indonesia still faces a number of challenges even as disbursement continues to grow. The latest report from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) identifies three main risks that financing institutions take into consideration: product and technology risk, resale value, and certainty of demand and policy.
Financing for electric vehicles by the multifinance industry grew 34.7% year on year to Rp24.60 trillion as of June 2026, according to the Financial Services Authority (OJK). However, that growth does not mean every segment of the electric vehicle market has an equally mature financing market.
In a report titled Mobilizing Electric Two-Wheeler Finance in Indonesia, RMI found that electric motorcycle financing is still concentrated among a number of multifinance companies. Meanwhile, direct involvement of commercial banks in financing electric two-wheelers remains limited.
“RMI identified three main risks that influence financing providers’ decisions,” said RMI Principal Wini Rizkiningayu in a statement received by Media Indonesia on Monday (24/8).
The findings emerged as the government began positioning financing as an important part of the National Electric Motorcycle Programme (Molinas). At the programme’s launch on 13 August, President Prabowo Subianto said the government would seek lower instalment interest rates and even purchases of electric motorcycles without a down payment.
According to RMI, product risk arises from differences in vehicle quality, battery durability, manufacturer track records, and after-sales service. These conditions mean financing institutions need to assess product quality and sustainability before expanding credit disbursement.
Meanwhile, resale value risk arises because the used electric motorcycle market is still immature. The absence of a widely used method for assessing battery health also makes vehicle asset values more difficult to determine.
As for uncertainty over demand and policy, it makes creditors tend to be cautious in expanding their portfolios. The combination of these three risks can lead to higher down payments, shorter tenors, more selective partnerships with manufacturers, and even restrictions on credit portfolios.
“Therefore, RMI considers that lowering interest rates alone is not enough to expand electric motorcycle financing,” said Wini.
According to her, a risk-reduction framework is needed that includes increasing capital and credit, innovative business models, asset value protection, and strengthening market infrastructure.
Such interventions are expected to reduce the cost of capital, improve financing feasibility, strengthen asset value recovery, and provide the data needed for credit risk assessment, insurance pricing, and vehicle valuation.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesian Electric Motorcycle Industry Association (Aismoli) Budi Setiyadi said electric motorcycle financing cannot simply be made cheap. The products being financed also need to have characteristics that are easier for financial institutions to assess.
“Warranties, after-sales service, battery health transparency, and more measurable resale value will increase financing companies’ confidence,” said Budi.
According to him, the easier product risk is to assess, the greater the room for the financing industry to expand electric motorcycle credit disbursement. Thus, strengthening the vehicle ecosystem is an important part of expanding access to financing.
“In the long term, the industry needs to build a market that does not depend only on government incentives,” he said.
Indonesia is targeting 13 million electric motorcycles by 2030. Meanwhile, based on data processed by the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin), the total electric motorcycle population in Indonesia had only reached 242,909 units as of April 2026.
To narrow the gap towards that target, financing needs to address two issues at once: making instalments more affordable for consumers and making vehicle risk easier for credit providers to assess.