Korea to run electric buses in Bali in first public EV fleet for Indonesia

The environment ministry said it will launch a pilot project in Bali on Oct. 22 that puts 11 Hyundai Motor electric buses and six fast chargers from charging-equipment maker Chaevi on the Indonesian resort island, the first official introduction of public electric buses there.

The project is funded as official development assistance. The buses and chargers will be handed over and an operator selected before services begin in November, the ministry said.

The Global Green Growth Institute and the Bali provincial government are co-hosting the launch ceremony at the Bajra Sandhi Monument, to be attended by about 300 people, including Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Yoon Soon-gu, Indonesian National Development Planning Minister Rachmat Pambudy, Bali Governor Wayan Koster and Rowan Fraser, head of the Global Green Growth Institute's Indonesia office.

The ministry said the Bali deployment is meant to show the quality and technical reliability of Korean suppliers internationally, and that field data gathered during the trial — battery efficiency, charging patterns and passenger demand — will be used to strengthen the export position of Korean green-transport companies in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia.

"The building of electric vehicle and charging infrastructure in Bali will serve as an opportunity to widen the overseas applicability of K-green mobility," said Kim Ji-young, the ministry's international cooperation director. "We will continue to support developing countries' responses to climate change and their sustainable development through ODA projects, while actively backing the overseas expansion of Korean eco-friendly vehicle and charging equipment companies."