Northvolt was one of the world’s most valuable battery startups. Now it has run out of charge.
Over the past week, the Swedish company filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and said its co-founder was stepping down as chief executive, after a turbulent year of production problems and job cuts.
The move marks a stark change in fortunes for a company that was once vaunted as Europe’s best hope for competing with China’s dominant battery makers. Northvolt’s collapse also underscores the difficulty Western companies face in establishing a foothold in the industry.
Northvolt has struggled with a challenging market for electric vehicles, difficulties scaling up and management missteps, departing chief executive Peter Carlsson said Friday. Filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy allows the loss-making company to access new sources of financing while it restructures.
“We’ve now stabilized, we’re getting predictable, we’re delivering,” said Carlsson, who remains on the company’s board. “You just need to have the time to get it there.”
Founded by Carlsson and another former Tesla executive in 2016, Northvolt’s goal was to become a reliable European source of battery cells to help power the region’s transition to EVs. Governments and investors were eager to support a homegrown player that could reduce the West’s reliance on China.
Everything Below -- Archived
The EV market and EV battery market have diverged. Diverged.
I think some folks are forgetting this.
But, the grid (think AI / data mining / crypto) is going to need obscene amounts of new electricity. And storage.
Utilities have been buying "storage" as fast as they can raise cash to do so. That will continue. Next, those industries that rely on electricity won't trust the grid: they will build their own power plants and they will -- except possible nuclear power plants -- will make batteries part and parcel of their factories to insure uninterrupted power supply when the grid occasionally -- but ultimately -- fails. From the very beginning, I've always considered Tesla a battery company. I was half-right. Tesla is a battery company and a software company.
The fact that Northvolt declared bankruptcy is a bigger story than most folks realize. I would argue that investors no longer see the EU as a growth story: it's not going see the amount of electricity demand that will be seen in the US.
November 22, 2024: will "2024" go down as the year that the EV fad died? The IEA is predicting a glut of oil next summer and the price of gasoline will plummet. So, we have a one-two punch. Consumers don't want to buy tethered vehicles, and the price of gasoline will continue to fall once Trump assumes office.
November 22, 2024, Northvolt EU EV declaring bankruptcy: link here and here, The NYT. And there's more: link here. Hard to believe, the blog first noted this company a little over a year ago: link here. Lasted almost as long as Matt Gaetz. LOL.
Original Post
DigitalTrends: link here.
Northvolt EU EV declaring bankruptcy: link here and here, The NYT.
Jeep: prices have gone through the roof; buyers are bailing; dealers are furious; how not to run a auto manufacturing business. Link here.
Auto worker wipeout, MSN: link here. Why car companies are cutting thousands of jobs.
Cheap EVs: google hertz's tesla fire sales continue -- full article here --
EVs: by now, we should be further along. Link here.
“Issues like charging infrastructure, high upfront costs, and potential lifestyle disruptions continue to deter many from making the transition,” Accenture says.
Meanwhile, charging infrastucture has continued to expand this year in the U.S., led by networks such as ChargePoint, Tesla’s SuperCharger, and Electrify America.
Wholesalers such as Costco and Walmart are adding EV-charging capacity. But the race to make EVs more affordable is facing hurdles now that Chinese-made electric vehicles face stiff tariffs in both Europe and America. [And the article doesn't even mention EV credits are likely to go away under Trump.]
Trump to end EV credits?
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