Source: https://universe.roboflow.com/zihan-septi/klasifikasi-plat-kendaraan
While the global discourse on the nickel value chain focuses on upstream mining and downstream processing, a critical gap remains in understanding the "final mile": the ride-hailing drivers. Since 2020, Indonesia’s energy transition has moved from a conceptual pilot to a large-scale institutional investment, accelerated by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Regulation No. 13/2020.
For platforms like Gojek (GoTo) and Grab, this transition reflects an integrated asset-management strategy. By leveraging entities like Electrum or third-party providers, these platforms maintain centralized control over critical operational assets, thereby transforming the driver’s role from an asset owner to a long-term lessee.
Economic Necessity over Ecological Choice
For many drivers, the switch to Electric Vehicles (EVs) is rarely driven by environmental awareness. Instead, it is a pragmatic response to financial precarity. Most drivers who opt for EV fleets, such as Daur (a pseudonym), do so because they do not own a private vehicle and require an immediate source of income without the high upfront cost of purchasing a motorcycle. The EV rental scheme provides a "quick entry" into the labor market for those in urgent need of liquidity, despite the long-term structural dependencies it creates.
The Opearting Lease
The core of this transition is the "operating lease" system. Drivers pay a daily rental fee of approximately IDR 75,000 for the vehicle and battery. In this model, ownership remains strictly with the lessor.
For a driver like Daur, the day begins with a "debt." Working 12 hours a day, he nets roughly IDR 170,000. While this is slightly more profitable than using internal combustion engines (ICE) due to rising fuel costs, the margins are fragile. The promised quarterly and biannual incentives act as a digital "carrot," disciplining drivers into long-term rental commitments to the platform's ecosystem.
Technical Constraints and Corporal Stress
The ethnographic reality on the ground reveals a "Battery Discipline." The quality of battery cells varies across brands despite uniform rental costs. Drivers face a constant anxiety: the Battery Swapping Station (BSS) network is unevenly distributed. A depleted battery mid-trip is not just a technical failure; it is a reputational risk. In the platform economy, a dead battery potentially leads to 1-star ratings, reduced order priority, and the threat of account suspension—a "digital death" for their livelihood.
Gendered Impact for The Driver
The burden is disproportionately felt by female drivers. The physical design of many EV units—bulky and heavy—is not ergonomic for smaller frames. Furthermore, the "flexibility" of the gig economy reveals its rigidity in times of illness or biological needs. With a strict "3 days off per month" rule and no formal leave (such as menstrual leave), female drivers must continue paying the daily IDR 75,000 rent even when they are physically unable to work.
Conclusion: The Risk of Energy Transition
The drivers are not luddites; they do not reject the energy transition. However, they are caught in a pincer move between national emission targets and the platform's asset-management strategies.
This represents a significant socio-economic and health risk.. As Indonesia pushes for "Net Zero 2060," the sustainability of the EV ecosystem depends on whether the burden of transition is shared or merely offloaded onto the most vulnerable actors in the value chain.
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