Northvolt’s ambition was to become a European batterymaker to rival Chinese battery behemoths like CATL and BYD. They wanted to offer a homegrown supply chain to western automakers. But in November, the company announced its bankruptcy.
So what went wrong?
In this episode, Shayle talks to Sam Jaffe, principal at 1019 Technologies. They walk through Northvolt’s timeline from founding to bankruptcy, including the loss of a $2B deal with BMW. They discuss lessons learned and cover topics like:
What went well — from fundraising billions of dollars to securing major off-takers
What didn’t go well — like trying to build multiple types of batteries, in multiple factories, on multiple continents
How venture capital investors may have pushed the company to be too ambitious
The tradeoffs of choosing NMC over LFP
Challenges with their equipment supplier Wuxi LEAD
The upside: Sam’s belief that Northvolt’s factory will ultimately make batteries
Recommended resources
Latitude Media: What Northvolt's bankruptcy means for Europe's battery ambitions
Intercalation: Battery production is genuinely difficult
Bloomberg: Northvolt Has Major Obstacles Ahead Even With Bailout In Reach
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What went wrong at Northvolt? | Catalyst with Shayle Kann podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
