Electric vehicles made by Volkswagen, Ford and Tesla may contain nickel mined in indigenous woodlands on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi that have been subject to extensive deforestation, according to an investigation published by the Guardian.
The investigation, which examined corporate disclosures and trade flows from the past two years, found that mines feeding into the automakers' battery supply chains are linked to the loss of primary rainforest on land inhabited by the Tolaki people, an indigenous community in Sulawesi. Sulawesi holds the world's largest known nickel deposits, making it a critical source of a metal that has become central to the electric vehicle industry.
Nickel is widely used in the cathodes of EV batteries because it increases energy density, allowing vehicles to travel farther on a single charge. As automakers have raced to expand electric vehicle production, demand for nickel has grown accordingly, drawing mining investment into forested areas of Indonesia that were previously undisturbed.
A pattern of prior findings
The Guardian's findings build on earlier work by watchdog groups. Climate Rights International and Mighty Earth have separately documented land disputes and the illegal clearing of protected forests tied to nickel mining for EV supply chains elsewhere in Indonesia, including at the Weda Bay Industrial Park on the island of Halmahera — concerns previously explored in reporting on land grabs tied to EV mineral sourcing. Those investigations raised concerns about a lack of free, prior and informed consent from indigenous communities before mining began on land they inhabit.
Volkswagen, Ford and Tesla's detailed responses to the specific findings were not available. The reporting nonetheless highlights a broader tension in the push toward electric transportation: automakers and battery makers have struggled to demonstrate that the minerals underpinning supposedly clean vehicles can be sourced without significant environmental and social cost, even as electrification is promoted as a central tool for cutting transport emissions.
With global nickel demand continuing to climb alongside EV sales, pressure is likely to grow on carmakers to trace and disclose their mineral supply chains more thoroughly, and on Indonesian authorities to enforce protections for both forests and the indigenous communities that depend on them.
Sulawesi's nickel reserves have made the island a focal point of Indonesia's push to become a dominant global supplier of battery materials, a strategy that has drawn billions of dollars in mining and processing investment in recent years. That buildout has brought jobs and export revenue to the region, but campaigners say it has also accelerated forest loss and land disputes faster than regulators and companies have been able to address them.
