File pic of a worker monitoring the nickel melting process at a nickel smelter near Sorowako, Indonesia. — Reuters
JAKARTA: Tesla will send delegations to Indonesia next month to discuss potential investment in a supply chain for its electric vehicles, the government said today in a statement.
President Joko Widodo has touted Indonesia's nickel reserves on a number of occasions, telling Reuters last month that "it’s very important because we have a great plan to make Indonesia the biggest producer of lithium batteries and we have the biggest nickel (reserves)."
The president and Luhut Pandjaitan, the co-ordinating minister for maritime and investment, were on a call with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday to discuss "investment opportunities from electric vehicles company Tesla in Indonesia," the ministry said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Luhut said last month that "there is a really good chance" that companies will want to invest in Indonesian nickel processing to cut costs.
Musk has said he is planning to offer a 'giant contract for a long period of time" so long as the nickel is mined “efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way".
Indonesia is keen to develop a full supply chain for nickel at home, especially for extracting battery chemicals, making batteries and eventually building EVs.
