Ford and VW have joined Hyundai in picking Indonesia as a centre for EV production, lured by the world’s largest nickel reserves. Tesla is still on the fence.
| Carmakers are making major investments in Indonesia in the global race to secure supplies of key minerals used in EV batteries, as South-East Asia’s largest economyPresident Joko Widodo’s decision to ban exports of nickel that are critical to EV battery production is paying dividends, with growing foreign investment in downstream processing and refining. Tax holidays and other incentives are also aimed at luring carmakers and turning Indonesia into an EV manufacturing hub.
The high-pressure acid leaching plant will produce nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide that can be further refined into a battery-grade product. At the signing ceremony in Soroako, South Sulawesi, Ford chief government affairs officer Christopher Smith said: “Ford can help ensure that the nickel that we use in electric vehicle batteries is mined, and produced within the same ESG standards as part of our business around the world.”
“The business environment in Indonesia is also not good enough. We still have problems with distribution, document compliance, custom compliance and the entry and exit of goods – all of which are tough problems to fix.” It is a tiny slice of the car market in South-East Asia’s most populous country that pumps out 1.1 million cars a year, but Hyundai was intent on building out, said Mr Lee, who heads up the company’s ASEAN operations.
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