Depok, August 7th 2023. The innovative electric bus propulsion system made by the Research Center for Advanced Vehicles (RCAVe) Faculty of Engineering (FT) Universitas Indonesia (UI) was again exhibited at the 2023 LPDP Festival located in The Kasablanka Hall, Tebet, South Jakarta on 1st-3rd of August 2023. The festival with the theme “Enlivening Indonesia, Advancing The Nation” is a forum for dissemination by the government through LPDP in building quality human resources (HR) and is the face of LPDP’s 11 year work journey.
At the peak of the event held specifically for LPDP Awardees and Alumni on August 3rd 2023, President Joko Widodo and Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati visited the UI booth. During his visit, President Joko Widodo chatted with Dr. Ir. Feri Yusivar M.Eng., Director of RCAVe FTUI who is also a recipient of RISPRO LPDP funding, regarding the development of electric buses as a result of the work of lecturers and researchers at the Universitas Indonesia.
“President Joko Widodo was impressed by the spirit of innovation and high dedication of the researchers who are members of RCAVe. Everyone at UI is also committed to continuing to contribute in providing environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions in the national automotive industry, as well as supporting the transformation towards a cleaner and more sustainable future mobility,” explained Dr. Feri Yusivar who is a lecturer at the Department of Electrical Engineering, FTUI.
At the LPDP 2023 exhibition, the RCAVe team displayed innovative components of the UI electric bus propulsion system, including Inverter Motor Control, Vehicle Control Unit (VCU), Power Distributed Unit (PDU), Dashboard, and Hybrid Control Unit (HCU). The UI Electric Bus was made possible thanks to Government support through the LPDP which invested IDR 12.65 billion for the development of the electric bus platform and IDR 5 billion for the development of the propulsion system (electric motor) by UI.
Dr. Feri Yusivar is a recipient of RISPRO LPDP funding for research “Product Development of Motor Drive Systems (Propulsion) for Large Electric Buses”. He said that the components developed by RCAVe FTUI have an important role in supporting the conversion of conventional vehicles into electric vehicles (EV Bus). One of them is the PT Petrosea bus which is currently in the trial phase on the highway.
“As a first step, RCAVe has succeeded in replacing previously imported components with domestic components. Through our commitment to continue innovating new components that are more efficient and environmentally friendly, we hope that in the future RCAVe can produce all electric bus components independently,” said Dr. Feri.
“Dr. Ir. Feri Yusivar and the RCAVe team in producing electric bus components independently is a step forward for the electric vehicle industry in Indonesia. This is in line with FTUI’s commitment to contribute as the best engineering campus in Indonesia in providing technology that has a positive impact, including the progress of the sustainable transportation sector,” said the Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU.
Visitors to the LPDP Festival 2023 exhibition looked enthusiastic about the electric bus propulsion system and tried the throttle pedal simulation which was integrated with the vehicle communication system made by RCAVe. The throttle pedal will then move the existing induction motor. By integrating the dashboard system with the drive system, the motor RPM and vehicle speed can be displayed on the dashboard. With direct interaction like this, visitors can experience some of the innovations being promoted by RCAVe.
This year, the LPDP Festival was offline. The series of activities include socialization on the opening of the LPDP scholarship, webinars on the role and services of the LPDP, edu fair, job fair , seminars and research exhibitions, cultural performances, mini cinema, TOEFL/IELTS test, as well as the 2023 Alumni Homecoming. This festival was attended by 57+ institutions leading educational institutions from various countries and involving recipients of RISPRO LPDP funding in exhibitions of research results.
