Indonesia apparently has enormous potential to become a major player in electric vehicles industries. President Director of PT Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) Toto Nugroho even said that Indonesia’s position in the future will play an important role in the electric vehicle business.
This happens because Indonesia has very abundant nickel. This condition has made Indonesia successful in attracting the attention of many investors.
They want to invite Indonesia to work together to make batteries for electric vehicles. Moreover, the fact is that producers’ dependence on nickel is very high.
“Indonesia has sufficient resources related to nickel to be able to meet the need for parts for electric vehicles. “Currently, our position is to convert nickel into materials for batteries that will be used by electric vehicles,” said Toto at the Indonesia Suistainbility Forum at Park Hyatt, Jakarta, Thursday (7/9/2023).
Toto said that the growth of electric vehicles in China is around 6 million units per year, while Europe is 3 million and Indonesia is 15,000 per year. Therefore, the need for raw materials for making batteries such as nickel is very large.
“We have sufficient resources related to nickel to be able to meet the need for parts for electric vehicles. We have production here, and I think in the next few years it will increase by 70 percent. “So Indonesia has potential like Arabia in terms of oil,” said Toto.
Realizing this, Toto believes that if it is managed well, Indonesia can become the world’s electric vehicle center. However, there needs to be encouragement from the government to make Indonesian people want to switch to electric vehicles.
“We have a global advantage in nickel resources. But nickel can enter the world supply chain. “So we have to go in two directions, namely increasing domestic demand for Indonesian electric vehicles, on the other hand meeting battery needs throughout the world and this is one of the benefits we have,” he said.
Toto also revealed that nickel material must be obtained in good condition, meaning it is not contaminated with anything. The reason is, battery manufacturers want the best materials to make safe and long-lasting batteries.
“Regarding battery production, I want to share that from mining when extracting nickel we must comply with mining practices. “On the other hand, electricity or power generation must follow standards, especially if we want to enter other countries, especially the US,” he said.
