Northvolt Shuts Down California R&D Facility to Consolidate Battery Development in Sweden

Swedish battery company Northvolt is ceasing operations at its lithium-metal battery research and development site in California, with plans to consolidate all developmental activities at its research hub in Vasteras, Sweden, announced the company on Tuesday.

Northvolt has been carrying out research and advancements in the field of lithium-metal battery technology, a potential substitute for the widely used lithium-ion batteries, by way of its fully owned affiliate, Cuberg, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, which it took over in 2021.

Illustration of the Northvolt Six battery production facility in Quebec, Canada.

Northvolt is making a calculated decision to transfer its lithium-metal advancement efforts to Sweden. This relocation will allow the company to progress this work concurrently with ongoing investigations into various other battery technologies, such as lithium-ion and sodium-ion.

"Concentrating our resources enhances our capability to provide advanced energy solutions for the increasing needs of the worldwide market," stated Sami Haikala, Northvolt's chief development officer.

Conceptual visualization of a proposed battery manufacturing facility by Volvo and Northvolt, intended to be situated in Gothenburg, Sweden

In June, Northvolt experienced a setback when it reportedly missed a deadline to supply batteries, leading to the cancellation of a deal with BMW worth an estimated $2 billion. The agreement had stipulated that Northvolt would begin battery production for BMW within the year. Additionally, Northvolt has revealed plans for a collaborative effort with Volvo to set up a battery factory in 2022. This facility is slated to begin operations in 2025 and is designed to produce batteries for a new fully electric model of the Volvo XC60 SUV. The plant's production capacity is targeted to meet the battery needs of 500,000 electric vehicles each year.

Northvolt exclusively manufactures batteries within Europe; however, in 2023, they revealed plans for a Canadian electric vehicle battery facility valued at $5.2 billion, with an expected operational date by 2026. This Canadian plant meets one of the criteria to qualify for the updated federal electric vehicle tax credit based on the new regulations introduced by President Biden's administration.

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