Blue Bird is looking for alternative manufacturers that can provide reliable vehicles at affordable prices, on top of its existing partners BYD, Tesla and Hyundai. — Jakarta Post
JAKARTA: Taxi operator Blue Bird wants to electrify 10% of its fleet by 2030 without hurting its bottom line.
“If we want to add electric vehicles (EVs) aggressively to make up more than 10%, of course, we can, but with the current profitability calculation, we can’t afford to buy more than that,” Blue Bird president director Adrianto Djokosoetono said on Monday.
According to Adrianto, the purchasing price is the biggest concern in making the switch to EVs.
Thus, the firm is looking for alternative manufacturers that can provide reliable vehicles at affordable prices, on top of its existing partners BYD, Tesla and Hyundai.
Previously, Bloomberg reported that Blue Bird would turn to BYD for 80% of its EV fleet while reviewing its Tesla orders.
“We can continue with the existing manufacturers, or with different ones. It’s similar with our internal combustion engine vehicles, where we are not only using a single brand,” said Adrianto, who has been with the company for 23 years and was appointed chief executive officer last month.
Blue Bird currently has around 180 electric four-wheelers, but that is only 0.8% of all the vehicles used for its taxi and rental business.
The EVs have been deployed mostly in Jakarta and Bali but have also been trialled in Semarang and other major cities in Java.
Adrianto explained that the company was waiting for the right moment to increase its EV inventory.
Despite the firm having secured approval from shareholders to purchase up to 500 EVs this year, he said he did not want to rush in and use the entire earmarked funds right away.
“Could we hit the maximum amount of 500 EVs this year? Probably. But most likely, we will do it gradually, paying attention to the firm’s financial stability,” Adrianto said.
The Blue Bird executive also confirmed that he had a plan to increase the revenue contribution of the non-taxi segment in its overall operations, such as car and bus rental, intercity shuttle services, car auctions as well as its new logistics service Bluebird Kirim. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
