Tesla has agreed to build a battery and electric vehicle plant in Indonesia, an official said

Tesla has reportedly agreed to build a battery and electric vehicle factory in Indonesia, according to the country’s head of investments. The comment comes after Musk met the Indonesian president.

We reported last week about Tesla is rumored to be close to a deal for a battery project in Indonesia after a new round of talks with representatives of the automaker and the Indonesian government; This wasn’t the first time that talks emerged of Tesla making a major investment in Indonesia.

In 2020, we report Tesla is allegedly in talks with the Indonesian government to build a new nickel project In the country with a strong nickel reserve – nickel is one of the main materials used in the production of cathodes for battery cells used in electric cars. This move came after CEO Elon Musk Mining companies appealed to increase their production of nickel.

Later, we also learned that Tesla was in fact in talks with Indonesia not only about nickel, but perhaps Build a complete battery factory in the country. After a pause in talks, things escalated again earlier this month after Tesla sent a group to Indonesia to speak with the government and Elon Musk meets President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Now a week later, local news It reported that Tesla “approved” a deal to build a battery and electric car plant in Indonesia:

Investment Minister Bhalil Hadalia said Wednesday that Tesla has agreed to build a battery and electric vehicle plant in an industrial complex in Central Java province, after statewide talks last weekend between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Lahdalia explained that nothing had been “signed” yet, but said it had been agreed:

God willing, Tesla will enter Indonesia this year. But I can’t announce the month yet. Let’s wait, because we haven’t signed an agreement yet. The amount of investment, which is still a secret, is still waiting. But these are good things, big things.

He did not go into details of the plan, but a factory for batteries and electric cars was mentioned. Musk previously said that Tesla aims to announce new factory locations by the end of the year.

Take Electric

I’ll take it with a grain of salt for now. Seems to be a decent source, but it’s best to be careful until anything gets signed. It would be a big deal for Tesla, as they would likely come with them to secure a large supply of nickel.

Indonesia has introduced regulations forcing companies to process nickel locally – so it’s not a huge leap for them to make full battery cells locally – but building all-electric cars in Indonesia is more surprising, if not impossible.

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