Tina Talisa, Special Staff to Investment Minister/BKPM Chairman, said mass production was carried out through PT Hyundai LG Indonesia (HLI) Green Power which is based in Karawang, West Java.

She assessed that this momentum not only marked Indonesia as the first electric vehicle battery cell producer in Southeast Asia, but also confirmed the government's commitment to support the project to develop the national electric vehicle battery ecosystem.

Furthermore, she added that the massive production of electric vehicle battery cells would make Indonesia the first country to produce electric vehicle battery cells in Southeast Asia to use the latest technology from LG.

"Indonesia is initiating the mass production of the first electric vehicle battery in the country. This moment not only positions Indonesia as the first electric vehicle battery producer in Southeast Asia but also solidifies the Indonesian government's commitment to supporting the electric vehicle battery ecosystem development project (grand package) worth US$ 9.8 billion or IDR 142 trillion," Tina said in a statement released on March 8, 2024.

In the first phase, HLI would absorb an investment of US$ 1.1 billion and have a production capacity of 10 gigawatt/hour (GWh) consisting of 32.6 million battery cells which could produce approximately 150 thousand electric vehicles. Meanwhile, in the second phase PT HLI plans to increase its production capacity to 20 GWh in 2025.

Director of PT HLI Green Power, Hong Woo Pyoung, saidd that they have been preparing for this since September 2023. Preparation includes training technicians involved in production. 

"We have prepared everything since September 2023. We are ready to commence mass production in April 2024. We have trained Indonesian engineers for a year, and we will continue to provide them with training. They are very intelligent, diligent, and competent. We are very proud of the engineers from Indonesia," said Hong Woo Pyoung.