Photo: Pixabay.com | Edited
Tesla is scouting for locations to build new gigafactories as it seeks to expand its manufacturing footprint. Several countries rushed to court Musk and offered incentives with the hope they would host Tesla’s next gigafactory. Indonesia is one of them, although its plans might fall off because it wants to use coal power as a source of electricity.
Elon Musk is about to announce his Master Plan 3 during Investor Day on March 1, and part of his plan is scaling EV production to the extreme. Nevertheless, Tesla needs more production facilities to increase production and lower costs. This is not only true for car manufacturing plants but also battery manufacturing facilities and raw-mineral processing plants. Of course, every country wants to host a Tesla gigafactory, but few would make a compelling proposition.
Previous information indicated Tesla might choose India to build its next gigafactory, although similar rumors surfaced about Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and Indonesia. Each of these countries has its strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, Indonesia seems most determined to convince Tesla to invest. Although it wants Tesla to build cars, presumably the affordable EV model it plans to unveil at the Investor Day event, it’s more likely that Tesla intends to tap into Indonesia’s vast mineral reserves.
New rumors indicate that Tesla might consider producing EV batteries in a green industrial park located in North Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, using the country’s rich nickel resources. Not only Tesla wants to do that, but also battery giant CATL. The only problem is that Indonesia is a coal country, the largest exporter of coal for electricity, and it uses coal to produce most of its electric power. Although this green industrial park is projected to run on solar power and hydropower from a nearby river, it would take years to build the hydropower infrastructure.
According to NPR, Indonesia is considering building new coal-fired power plants to provide electricity to its “green” park. If you don’t get the irony, it’s not much different from running a coal-fired steam engine in the back of a Tesla to charge the battery and pretend it is green. According to the same source, there’s a reason for that: the green park is the project of coal billionaire Garibaldi Thohir, whose brother is a minister in the Indonesian government. Several government members are also known to have ties to the coal industry.
Tesla so far hasn’t announced any project in Indonesia, although Elon Musk met with Indonesia President Joko Widodo in May last year. They nevertheless signed a $5 billion deal to supply nickel to Tesla, and the Indonesians would be more than happy to extend this partnership. Considering Tesla’s goals to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels, making its batteries using coal power might not be the best idea.
Previous information indicated Tesla might choose India to build its next gigafactory, although similar rumors surfaced about Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and Indonesia. Each of these countries has its strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, Indonesia seems most determined to convince Tesla to invest. Although it wants Tesla to build cars, presumably the affordable EV model it plans to unveil at the Investor Day event, it’s more likely that Tesla intends to tap into Indonesia’s vast mineral reserves.
New rumors indicate that Tesla might consider producing EV batteries in a green industrial park located in North Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, using the country’s rich nickel resources. Not only Tesla wants to do that, but also battery giant CATL. The only problem is that Indonesia is a coal country, the largest exporter of coal for electricity, and it uses coal to produce most of its electric power. Although this green industrial park is projected to run on solar power and hydropower from a nearby river, it would take years to build the hydropower infrastructure.
According to NPR, Indonesia is considering building new coal-fired power plants to provide electricity to its “green” park. If you don’t get the irony, it’s not much different from running a coal-fired steam engine in the back of a Tesla to charge the battery and pretend it is green. According to the same source, there’s a reason for that: the green park is the project of coal billionaire Garibaldi Thohir, whose brother is a minister in the Indonesian government. Several government members are also known to have ties to the coal industry.
Tesla so far hasn’t announced any project in Indonesia, although Elon Musk met with Indonesia President Joko Widodo in May last year. They nevertheless signed a $5 billion deal to supply nickel to Tesla, and the Indonesians would be more than happy to extend this partnership. Considering Tesla’s goals to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels, making its batteries using coal power might not be the best idea.
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