Indonesia apparently supplies nickel battery material to Tesla
However, Indonesia’s energy minister did not provide any details on the quantity. According to Reuters, Bahlil said: “We will export precursor to the U.S. by next month to Tesla, from Weda Bay.” The addressee is Tesla. In the summer of 2022, a high-ranking Indonesian cabinet minister told Reuters that Tesla had signed contracts worth around 5 billion US dollars to buy materials for its batteries from nickel-processing companies in Indonesia. Tesla did not respond to a Reuters enquiry about the interview statements at the time. The US electric car manufacturer also does not wish to comment on the current statement by the Energy Minister.
One thing is clear: Indonesia has large nickel deposits and is endeavouring to establish further processing of the material in its own country – via battery factories, but also vehicle plants for electric cars. In order to secure supplies for its own developing industry, Indonesia has even temporarily stopped exporting nickel ore.
As a result, several international companies have announced or already completed major investments and concrete e-mobility projects in Indonesia. In the summer, for example, Hyundai and LGES put a battery cell factory into operation in Indonesia, and Hyundai also opened a vehicle plant there in 2022. Toyota and BYD also want to build electric cars locally. Another recent announcement is that a subsidiary of Chinese battery giant CATL has founded a joint venture with the state-owned Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) to drive forward the establishment of battery cell production in the country.
Tesla has long been rumoured to be interested in a plant in Indonesia. However, this project has not yet materialised.
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