The Electric: In a Geopolitics Hack, EV Makers Use Indonesia to Obtain Chinese Batteries

Nickel processing and smelting plant in North Maluku, Indonesia. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty

Two years ago, Indonesia’s president came to the White House and offered then-President Joe Biden a deal. Indonesia would supply all of the nickel the U.S. needed to build a competitive electric vehicle battery industry, if Biden made the mineral-rich country eligible for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.