Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt claims the tide has turned on late deliveries and production is increasing.
It has come under pressure in the Swedish media, with Christian Levin, CEO of joint venture partner Scania, complaining that late delivery of batteries has hit their electric truck production.
Levin told the Svenska Dagblad newspaper the company delivered just 222 electric trucks last year, 0.2% of its total. Without delivery problems from Northvolt, it would have been able to deliver a few thousand, he said.
He added the delivery of battery cells from Northvolt was now increasing, however, and he was hoping for an upturn in the second half so it could fulfil its orders. He said Scania is 1–2 years behind in its electrification plans.
Deliveries to Scania went from around 1,000 cells per week before the end of 2023 to around 20,000 per week now, the company reportedly said.
Northvolt spokesperson Anders Thor said its production has now gone from thousands of cells per week to tens of thousands per week, to multiple customers. “We have also got a new stability in production and are working to catch up.”
He said Northvolt’s first gigafactory in Skellefteå had installed capacity in the first phase now ramping up of 16GWh. That phase is not planned to be fully running until 2025, Thor said. The capacity goal for the entire factory is 60GWh when fully built, he said. First customers include Porsche, BMW, Audi and Scania.
He added: “Northvolt Ett is, however, still under heavy construction and ramp-up, and we’ll continue to increase production line by line and construct even more facilities at the site in the years to come.”
Northvolt and Volvo Cars are also building a joint venture gigafactory in Gothenburg, Sweden, next to the Volvo Cars production site. Their JV, Novo Energy, expects to start production in 2026, with capacity up to 50GWh per year. Cells made there will be assembled in Volvo’s battery assembly plant next to the gigafactory.
Northvolt has six gigafactory projects: Northvolt Ett (Skellefteå, Sweden), Northvolt Dwa (Gdansk, Poland), Northvolt Drei (Heide, Germany), the JV with Volvo Cars, Novo (Gothenburg, Sweden), Northvolt Fem (Borlänge, Sweden), Northvolt Cuberg (San Leandro, US) and the most recently announced Northvolt Six (Montreal, Canada).
Photo: Jim Rowan, CEO of Volvo Cars; Peter Carlsson, CEO of Northvolt; Adrian Clarke, CEO of NOVO Energy at the new Gothenburg construction site.
