Tesla approached Indonesia for potential investment: Report

JAKARTA, Oct 6, 2020, e27. Electric vehicles (EVs) major Tesla has approached the government of Indonesia to set up a possible venture in the archipelago, says a Reuters report, quoting an official in the Joko Widodo administration, e27 reported.

Indonesia is a major producer of nickel — a preferred chemical feed in the production of cathode materials for nickel-bearing lithium-ion batteries, primarily for EVs.

As per a report, the country has been increasing its capacity by 46 per cent year-over-year to 550,000 tonnes of nickel.

The country has recently put a ban on the exports of unprocessed nickel ore to support investment in its domestic industries.

“It was still an early discussion and was not detailed yet,” Ayodhia Kalake, a senior official at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment, said.

Further discussions are required on this project, he said adding the government will provide a number of incentives for investment in EVs.

Tesla has been urging mining companies around the world to mine more nickel, with its CEO Elon Musk saying his firm will give them a giant contract for a long period of time.

“Well, I’d just like to re-emphasise, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel. Okay. Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and don’t wait for nickel to go back to some long — some high point that you experienced some five years ago, whatever,” he said in the earnings call in July.

“Go for efficiency, obviously environmentally friendly nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So hopefully this message goes out to all mining companies. Please get nickel,” he urged.