Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt is closing its R&D centre in San Francisco to focus its research efforts at its site in Västerås, outside Stockholm, the company said today in a statement.
The site in San Francisco was developing lithium-metal battery technology and was run by US startup Cuberg — a fully-owned subsidiary acquired by Northvolt in 2021. With the centre closing, employees have been encouraged to apply for open positions matching their skill set across Northvolt sites in Sweden and Canada, the company said.
“By centralising our efforts, we are better equipped to deliver the next generation of energy solutions to meet the growing demands of the global market,” said Sami Haikala, Northvolt’s chief development officer.
The site closure in the US comes after a turbulent couple of months at the battery company.
In June it was reported that a €2bn contract Northvolt had with German carmaker BMW — which is a shareholder in the company — had been cancelled because of production delays. That deal, signed in 2020, was worth around 4% of Northvolt’s order book, which stands at $55bn according to its 2022 annual report. One source from within the industry told Sifted that the company was two years behind schedule on the order when it was cancelled.
In the same week, Swedish media reported that Northvolt had abandoned its plan to open a fourth factory, in Borlänge, Sweden.
In early July CEO Peter Carlsson said that Northvolt was reviewing the timelines for their major international expansion plans in Germany’s Heide and Canada’s Montréal, which are of the same size as Northvolt’s first factory in Skellefteå.
“In the current situation, we are looking at how we can focus even more on what’s core of the business. To move forward in Germany and Montréal, it is fundamental that Skellefteå, as the parent factory, is where it should be according to the plan. When we are now behind schedule, we therefore need to review subsequent steps and that is something we are working on right now,” he said to Swedish media DI in July.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/northvolt-closes-rd-centre-in-us-news/
