Ford has joined PT Vale Indonesia and China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt in a joint venture nickel processing plant being built in Indonesia to secure supplies of the mineral for its electric vehicle batteries.
The exact amount of the investment was not announced, but the facility will have an annual output of 120,000 tons of mixed hydroxide precipitate, an extract from nickel ore that is used in EV batteries, when it is fully operational.
“Ford can help ensure that the nickel that we use in electric vehicle batteries is mined, produced within the same ESG standards as part of our business around the world,” Christopher Smith, Ford’s chief government affairs officer, said at the signing ceremony.
“This framework gives Ford direct control to source the nickel we need – in one of the industry’s lowest-cost ways – and allows us to ensure the nickel is mined in line with our company’s sustainability targets, setting the right ESG standards as we scale,” Lisa Drake, vice president for Ford Model e EV industrialization, said.
“Working this way puts Ford in a position to help make EVs more accessible for millions and to do it in a way that helps better protect people and the planet.”
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