Jokowi was serious with electric car ambition, setting a target to have at least one in five cars to be an electric one by 2025. And, the plan has been taking shape in the past twelve months. China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), one of the world's largest car battery manufacturers, is preparing to build a $5.1 billion battery plant in Indonesia.
The state-owned mining holding company Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum), state utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara and state energy company Pertamina are working to establish Indonesia Battery Holding, a holding company that would involve in battery investment, production, and distribution across the country.
Japan's automotive giant Toyota had pledged a $2 billion investment to develop 10 types of electric vehicles in Indonesia to transform the Southeast Asian largest economy into a critical global hub for electric vehicle exports over the next five years.
Besides Toyota, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor has also committed about $1.55 billion in investment for an electric car manufacturing plant. The company's West Java plant will start production next year. In a tweet last July, Musk said he saw nickel production as the biggest obstacle for a high volume battery production for electric cars. He also identified several countries that were on course to become key suppliers of the metal.
Jokowi has been adamant about leveraging Indonesia's nickel reserve — the largest in the world — to launch an integrated supply chain for electric car batteries and the electric car industry in the country. Nickel was the main component for making a high-performance lithium-ion battery.
(source: The Jakarta Globe)