#7 Batteries, Bikes, and Bold Moves: Lessons from Indonesia’s Electric Two-Wheeler Boom with SWAP Energy

Meet Kevin, a serial entrepreneur whose frustrations with clunky electric scooters in China sparked an audacious idea: what if you could swap batteries instead of waiting hours to charge? Teaming up with a co-founder in 2019, he launched SWAP Energy in Indonesia—home to 130 million two-wheelers—and turned chaos into opportunity, bootstrapping a network of battery-swapping stations that’s now the largest in Southeast Asia at 1,400 strong. From software crashes that grounded 5,000 bikes to protests outside his showroom, Kevin’s journey is packed with lessons on grit, ingenuity, and listening to the drivers who swap batteries up to four times a day. Partnering with heavyweights like Grab, Shell, and Pertamina, SWAP’s 18,000 electric bikes are slashing costs for ride-hailing and logistics workers, proving that bold moves can power both livelihoods and a cleaner future—one nine-second swap at a time.