Hyundai and LGES launch Indonesia’s first electric vehicle battery plant

Two South Korean conglomerates have built Indonesia's first electric vehicle battery plant, which President Joko Widodo inaugurated on the island of Java on Wednesday.

Executives from Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution (LGES) visited the site to inaugurate the battery cell production plant, which will have an annual capacity of 10 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery cells.

The plant is part of a commitment by Hyundai Motor and LGES to invest up to $9.8 billion in Southeast Asia's largest economy to develop an electric vehicle supply chain, the Indonesian government said, to benefit from its rich nickel and copper resources.

SEE ALSO: Germany opposes EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as trade tensions escalate

“This nation’s mineral resources, such as iron and nickel, are important components of the batteries that will power millions of electric vehicles worldwide,” Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung said at the plant’s opening ceremony.

The plant is integrated into Hyundai car plant where the company is expected to begin producing 50,000 units per year of the Kona Electric, an SUV that would use batteries made in Indonesia.

Hyundai and LGES are also preparing to launch the development of the second phase of the battery plant, which involves an investment of $2 billion to add 20 GWh of capacity to the plant.

In 2021, the companies announced they were investing $1.1 billion in the battery cell plant in West Java province. The plant has enough annual capacity to produce batteries that can power more than 150,000 battery-powered electric vehicles.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said the plant would consolidate Indonesia’s key position in the global electric vehicle supply chain as it would establish a domestic processing industry.

“This is the first and largest electric vehicle battery cell factory in Southeast Asia, and I am sure we will be able to win this competition with other countries because nickel, bauxite and copper are here,” Jokowi said at the event.

Indonesia, the world's top nickel producer, banned exports of raw nickel in 2020 to encourage investment in domestic processing of the metal.

Indonesian Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and South Korean Trade Minister Cheong Inkyo also met on Wednesday to discuss cooperation in electric vehicles, petrochemicals and clean energy technologies such as carbon capture and storage, the South Korean trade ministry said in a statement.

• Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard

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Indonesia seeks to boost electric vehicle industry with new incentives

Indonesian exports could reach $280 billion on higher nickel shipments

Indonesia to launch $2 billion EV fund with China's CATL

Indonesia's Vale, China sign deal for $2 billion nickel plant

Hyundai opens factory to manufacture Indonesia's first electric vehicle

Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd newspapers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling to South East Asia in the late 1990s. He was editor of The Nation for over 17 years.

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