PT VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas (VKTR) is increasingly strengthening its position to develop the upstream electric vehicle industry in Indonesia. This time, VKTR has entered into a strategic partnership with one of the largest battery companies in China and India, namely Gotion High-Tech Co., Ltd. through its subsidiary PT. Gotion Indonesia Materials, to develop important components in the electric vehicle battery industry.

“This collaboration will later focus on developing battery packs, which are an important component in the anatomy of electric vehicle batteries,” said VKTR Main Director Gilarsi W. Setijono, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in Jakarta, Friday (23/12/2022). The signing of the MoU was carried out by the Managing Director of VKTR Gilarsi W. Setijono and Executive Director of PT Gotion Indonesia Materials Shen Wenbo.

Gilarsi added, VKTR plans to produce battery-based electric vehicles with projected battery needs until 2027. The hope is that Gotion High-Tech Co., Ltd. will help provide lithium battery packs for the needs of new electric vehicles and retrofit electric vehicles that will be produced by VKTR.

According to Gilarsi, designing the right battery pack is very important to meet VKTR’s expectations as a customer, especially in terms of range, cost, safety, durability and driving experience. However, integrating this technology in vehicles is a challenge, as both cost and performance are at stake.

“Both newcomers and existing players in the automotive space will face challenges balancing these factors, especially since no OEM has the experience of producing battery packs to guide their decision making yet,” explained Gilarsi.

To operate an electric vehicle, continued Gilarsi, enormous power is required thousands of times stronger than a smartphone. That is why electric cars require tens of thousands of battery cells.

“The composition of an EV battery may vary slightly depending on the type of electric vehicle, but generally an EV battery is made up of cells, modules and a pack,” he said.

Gilarsi explained, in order to safely and efficiently manage the countless battery cells installed in a single EV, the cells are installed in modules and packs. Simply put, cells, modules and packs are battery units that are collected. “A group of cells forms a module and a group of modules forms a pack. Ultimately, in an electric vehicle, one form of battery is installed: a pack,” he explained.

Executive Director of PT Gotion Indonesia Materials Shen Wenbo said that his party is optimistic that this strategic cooperation will run smoothly in the future and be able to advance the electric vehicle battery industry in Indonesia. As one of the 3rd largest battery company players in China and number 1 in India, it is confident that it will be able to produce reliable modules and battery packs according to specifications and expectations.

“We hope to play a role in efforts to accelerate the electric vehicle industry in Indonesia,” he said.