LIPI launches first Indonesian-made electric car
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Totok M.S. Soegandi, a senior researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), displayed two prototypes of an Indonesian-made electric car at a seminar here on Thursday. However, he conceded it would still take years before the car hit Jakarta streets.
During the seminar on environmentally friendly transportation systems, the 275-centimeter long, 150-cm tall cars, each weighing around 300 kilograms, attracted significant interest from government officials, businessmen and academics.
"We still need to improve the engine performance of the car, and to match the specifications with the standards of commercial cars," said Totok, who is currently head of LIPI's Bandung-based Research Center for Electrical Power and Mechanics, which developed the cars.
He said his office would try to complete the various test requirements within a year.
He said LIPI had not yet talked to any private investor in regards to the commercial production of the electric car.
Totok and his nine-member team started development of the car in 1999. LIPI has produced five prototypes, which include two two-seat city cars and three four-seat open-roof "boogie" cars designed for use at golf courses, tourist resorts and even hospitals.
The first prototype was completed in two years at a cost of Rp 228 million (US$25,618).
Totok said production costs for a boogie car were around Rp 40 million. In comparison, a similar car imported from India is sold here for around Rp 80 million.
Two of the three boogie cars were in use at the Bogor Botanical Gardens.
The electric car has a 2.5 Horse Power engine powered by electricity, which means zero gas emissions.
The car resembles a guinea pig and is called MarLip, an abbreviation of marmut (Indonesian for guinea pig) and LIPI.
Totok said LIPI was not the first to develop an electric car here. However, the Agency for the Assessment and the Application of Technology (BPPT), which made the first attempt, failed to produce a prototype.
He conceded that commercial production of an electric car in Indonesia was years away, particularly for the city car, as people would be reluctant to abandon using fuel-powered cars.
Indeed, MarLip can only reach 40 km/hour.
In addition, the battery for the city-car only lasted five hours and took 10 hours to charge, he said.
"This is our biggest challenge. We'll continue to improve this area."
Despite these problems, Totok remained optimistic that one day Indonesians, particularly those living in the city, would switch to more environmentally friendly cars as pollution had reached alarming levels.
He said the increasing cost of fuel was another attraction for the electric car.
Asked if there was already a demand for the car, Totok said that one hotel operator in Bali had already expressed interest in purchasing the car for use at its golf course.