The Switzerland-based engineering giant ABB will be working with Northvolt on that company’s project to build what will reportedly be “Europe’s largest lithium-ion battery production plant.” That battery factory will be in Sweden.
If you’re in the electric vehicle industry or monitor it closely, you know one thing: batteries are big. Dropping battery prices are what have made electric cars competitive. As they drop further, they will make gasmobiles wildly uncompetitive. However, supply of batteries is limited, global production plans need to scale up a lot to hit electric vehicle (EV) plans and potential, and those who scale up smartly will likely lead on cost as well. Who’s going to jump on the wave with perfect timing and lead the market? LG Chem? Panasonic? Tesla? Samsung SDI? SK Innovation? Kreisel? … NorthVolt?
Two former Tesla executives are planning to construct a large lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Scandinavia, either in Sweden or Finland. Peter Carlsson was in charge of Tesla’s supply chain operations and is now CEO of Northvolt. He is joined by another former Tesla executive, Paolo Cerruti, in the new venture.
