Taxi Company Blue Bird Looking For Alternative EV Vendors

According to The Jakarta Post, Blue Bird, an Indonesian taxi company, wants to electrify 10% of its fleet by 2030 while continuing to be profitable.

"With the current profitability calculation, we can't afford to buy more than that," Blue Bird President Director Adrianto Djokosoetono said on Monday. Of course, we can aggressively add electric vehicles (EVs) to make up more than 10%. Adrianto claims that the most significant barrier to switching to EVs is the cost of purchase.

The company is looking for additional automakers to add to its current partners BYD, Tesla, and Hyundai in order to deliver dependable vehicles at competitive prices.
Bloomberg previously reported that Blue Bird would review its Tesla orders before turning to BYD for 80% of its EV fleet.
Adrianto, who has worked for the company for 23 years and was recently named CEO said that the company has the option of using the current manufacturers or switching to others.

“Similar circumstances apply to our internal combustion engine vehicles, where we use multiple brands”, he added. 180 electric four-wheelers make up about 0.8% of Blue Bird's fleet of vehicles used for its taxi and rental services at the moment.

The EVs have mostly been deployed in Jakarta and Bali, but they have also been tested in Semarang and other major Java cities. Adrianto explained that the company was waiting for the right time to increase its electric vehicle inventory.

Despite the fact that the company has received shareholder approval to purchase up to 500 EVs this year, he stated that he does not want to use the entire earmarked funds right away. He also further confirmed that he had a plan to increase the revenue contribution of the company's non-taxi operations, including its new logistics service Bluebird Kirim, intercity shuttle services, car auctions, and car rental and bus services.