President Jokowi Inspects Electric Vehicle Battery Factory in Karawang

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inspects the electric car battery factory of PT Hyundai LG Industry (HLI) Green Power in Karawang regency, West Java province, Thursday (09/14). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Laily Rachev)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Thursday (09/14) inspected the electric car battery factory of PT Hyundai LG Industry (HLI) Green Power located in Karawang regency, West Java province.

“PT HLI Green Power is expected to have produced 30 million battery cells for 180 thousand electric cars by next year. This is the first largest electric vehicle battery production site in Southeast Asia,” the President said.

According to the President, the factory is a pivotal part of the Government’s strategy to build an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem which will enable Indonesia to establish its presence in the global electric vehicle supply chain.

“We can enter the global supply chain where other nations will rely on our electric vehicle (EV) batteries,” he said.

In the meantime, Minister of Investment/Head of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia said that the factory initiated production trials exactly two years after the groundbreaking ceremony.

“Alhamdulillah, two years ago – today to be precise – we broke ground on the construction of EV batteries [factory]. The product is in progress, and currently undergoing trial and error processes. It may enter full-scale production around March next year,” the Minister said.

Among LG’s five factories worldwide, he added, the factory in Indonesia is the only one equipped with the latest technology.

On that occasion, the Minister pointed out that the President is scheduled to inspect the second phase of the factory’s production expansion of 20 GWh.

“LG plans to build a 30 Giga capacity, fulfilling the investment commitment that has been a topic of discussion. We often talked about car battery production, alhamdulillah, it’s now becoming a reality,” he explained.

“This aligns with the President’s continuous directive to all ministers to focus on downstreaming efforts. This is real evidence and the facility clearly uses high technology. We will empower Indonesian workers for this endeavor as we have sent more than 100 workers to Korea to learn about manufacture-related matters,” he said.

During the inspection, the President also visited several factory areas, including the electrode line, assembly line, and forming line. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/AIT) (RIF/LW)