Locally Produced Electric Buses Hit the Road, Ushering in a New Era for Electric Public Transport
Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, will officially integrate 15 locally produced electric buses into Transjakarta’s high-capacity corridors by the end of 2025, becoming the first city in Southeast Asia to advance electric public transportation from the testing phase to active service routes. These electric buses were assembled at a factory in Ungaran, Central Java, through a collaboration between local bus body manufacturer Karoseri Laksana and VKTR, the electric vehicle subsidiary of Bakrie & Brothers, using BYD chassis.
Transjakarta stated that this batch of electric buses will be prioritized for deployment on high-capacity routes to validate the operational feasibility of the local manufacturing model. Unlike previous practices of importing fully built vehicles, this initiative adopts a “local assembly” approach, with Laksana handling body manufacturing and VKTR providing electric powertrain integration. This not only reduces reliance on imports but also lays the foundation for Indonesia’s domestic electric bus industry chain. Transjakarta plans to convert its entire bus fleet to fully electric by 2030, currently serving over one million passengers daily.
Busworld 2026 Showcases Regional Industry Strength
Busworld Southeast Asia 2026, held on August 9, 2026, at the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo), attracted over 5,000 attendees from 41 countries and featured 25 zero-emission and low-emission commercial vehicles. During the event, local bus body manufacturer PT Tentrem Sejahtera won the top design award for its E-Velocity W1 electric bus, demonstrating Indonesia’s local industry’s international competitiveness in engineering design.
Karoseri Laksana unveiled the Legacy SR3 Neo Panorama electric intercity coach at the exhibition, built on Hyundai’s Elec City chassis. The bus will serve as the official team bus for Indonesia’s professional football club Persija Jakarta, marking the first adoption of a fully electric team coach in the country. This signals the expansion of electric buses from public transportation to high-end business and sports team mobility.
China’s Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Co. showcased its 12-meter electric transit bus, the XML6125JEVJC3, and the MAX model mini electric bus at the event. The company announced plans to introduce a range-extended electric bus platform tailored for Indonesia’s long-haul highways and inter-island ferry routes. Meanwhile, German commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus made its Southeast Asian debut with its tri-axle Lion’s Chassis CO platform, collaborating with local distributors to explore future localized electric bus production possibilities.
Innovative Models Overcome Expansion Bottlenecks, Accelerating Electrification
To accelerate the adoption of electric buses, ecosystem service provider INVI and KALISTA Group signed agreements in mid-July 2026 with three Transjakarta operators—Pahala Kencana, Bayu Holong, and Kopang ARH—to deploy 12-meter HIGER electric high-deckers through a Fleet-as-a-Service model. This approach effectively addresses expansion bottlenecks such as high initial investment costs and insufficient charging infrastructure, offering a new pathway for scaling up electric public transportation in Indonesia.
INVI also announced plans to expand electric bus deployments to West Kalimantan and establish the INVI Technician Academy to train professional maintenance technicians. Transjakarta Academy is leveraging this electric bus transition to enhance training in high-voltage equipment and standardized charging infrastructure while actively recruiting female technicians and drivers. The academy noted that women account for approximately 60% of Jakarta’s public transport ridership, and increasing female participation in the workforce will help improve service quality.
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy stated that localizing electric bus production not only creates new technical job opportunities in manufacturing and maintenance but also injects momentum into Indonesia’s automotive industry transformation. As Jakarta’s electric public transportation ecosystem takes shape, its experience will serve as a reference for other cities in Southeast Asia. The Jakarta provincial government has set a clear target to achieve a fully electric bus fleet by 2030 and is accelerating the transition through diverse collaboration models.
