Northvolt lays off 1,600 workers, but it’s not the end for Europe’s battery champion
Tim De Chant
Tue, September 24, 2024
When is raising $14 billion not enough? When you’re a battery startup.
Northvolt, Europe’s attempt at building a competitor to Asia’s battery manufacturing powerhouses, announced on Monday that it had halted work on a factory expansion and laid off 1,600 employees, or about 20% of the workforce.
The company was planning to expand its Ett factory in northern Sweden to scale production to 30 gigawatt-hours annually. The expansion would have supplied cathode active material (CAM), a key component required to make completed cells. On September 9, the company also axed another CAM production site in Sweden. Without those factories, Northvolt will almost certainly have to buy it elsewhere, likely from overseas.
The cost cutting is the result of lower-than-expected demand growth, Northvolt said, as automakers trim their forecasts for electric vehicle production. Execution problems are probably also to blame. In June, the company was unable to fulfill an order for BMW on time, leading the German automaker to cancel the €2 billion contract. Northvolt did not immediately reply to TechCrunch’s request for comment, though it’s hard to see how that didn’t influence the company’s cost-cutting measures.
Ultimately, Northvolt faces two challenges.
For one, all battery startups face significant execution risk. Though batteries appear simple from the outside, the chemistry inside is fiendishly complex. It isn’t easy to develop materials that can store energy safely at high densities, that can be recharged at increasingly higher rates, and that can survive for more than a decade inside an automobile. Producing them at a massive scale only compounds the challenge. Just ask GM and LG what happens when you don’t get it right.
Northvolt has additional hurdles to surmount. It’s essentially building a copy of what Asian countries like China and South Korea already possess: a mature, scaled battery-manufacturing sector. Both China and South Korea have been working on it for decades, with consistent government support along the way. By comparison, Northvolt is only eight years old, and it only recently received substantial assistance from the EU and other governments.
The U.S. tried something similar nearly 20 years ago with A123 Systems. The startup pioneered production of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, which stored less energy than other chemistries but were more durable and safer to charge. It started by selling to power tool manufacturers and then began courting automakers, who even in the late 2000s were projected to buy the sort of volumes that would support large-scale domestic manufacturing.
A123 was in the running to make battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt, but after losing out to LG, its only customer ended up being the first iteration of Fisker, which was also making a plug-in hybrid. After one of those cars caught fire during Consumer Reports’ testing, A123’s fate was all but sealed.
What those high-profile stumbles don’t reveal were the other obstacles A123 faced, most of which revolved around standing up a battery supply chain where there was none. Northvolt has been a bit more successful, in part because there is some political appetite to make it happen. But the Swedish company’s announcements about curtailing CAM production show it’s still not easy to accomplish.
The second challenge that Northvolt faces is that automakers, its key partners, haven’t been able to decide where they stand on EVs. After years spent talking up the transition to all-EV lineups, they’ve since backed off the most aggressive targets. Most automakers’ early forecasts proved overly optimistic, and they appear to have underestimated the amount they’d need to invest to produce successful products. In the face of weaker-than-expected tailwinds, they have plunged into developing hybrids and plug-in hybrids, which require far fewer batteries.
To succeed in early markets requires all players to have conviction. Automakers, parts manufacturers, and investors all need to have bought into an EV future. If any one of them blinks, they all suffer. Northvolt is feeling that pain today.
Does it spell the end of battery manufacturing in Europe or North America, where Northvolt has plans to expand? Hardly. Demand for EVs is still strong and growing. And because batteries are heavy and expensive to ship, it makes sense to produce them near EV factories. Strong incentives courtesy of the Inflation Reduction Act and the European Green Deal help tip the scales further. That doesn’t mean Northvolt can be complacent — it still has to prove it can execute. But by the time that gets sorted, it’s likely the market will be ready for it.
View comments
Northvolt restructures in Sweden
David Leggett
Mon, September 23, 2024
EV battery firm Northvolt has outlined a review of operations in Sweden which will result in the loss of 1,600 jobs.
The move comes amid slowing sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Europe. The company cited headwinds in the automotive market.
The company said it will focus on accelerating production in large-scale cell manufacturing at Northvolt Ett. As part of that strategy, it is planning the redundancy of approximately 1,600 Northvolt employees, split across Skellefteå (1,000 positions), Västerås (400 positions) and Stockholm (200 positions). All redundancies are subject to ongoing union negotiations, the company said.
In adjusting its near-term ambitions and focusing on the ramp-up of the first 16 GWh phase of Northvolt Ett, Northvolt said it is positioning itself to prioritize commitments to its current automotive customers.
Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt, said: “While overall momentum for electrification remains strong, we need to make sure that we take the right actions at the right time in response to headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate.
“We now need to focus all energy and investments into our core business. Success in the ramp-up of production at Northvolt Ett is critical for delivering to our customers and enabling sustainable business operations. Recent production records at Northvolt Ett show that we are on the right path, but the decisions we’re taking today, however tough, are required for Northvolt’s future.”
Rescoped operations
In Skellefteå, Sweden, the development of Northvolt Ett expansion project will be suspended. The construction project was intended to provide an additional 30 GWh of annual cell manufacturing capacity. The decision follows the announcement earlier this month to place the Northvolt Ett cathode active material facility into ‘care and maintenance’.
In Västerås, Sweden, programs and expansion will be slowed at Northvolt Labs. The fundamental platforms hosted at Northvolt Labs will be maintained, enabling Northvolt Labs to retain its position as Europe’s ‘leading campus for battery innovation and product development’.
As it reduces the scope of its operations and programs in Sweden, Northvolt will also reduce the size of its corporate support functions, which today are largely located in Stockholm.
Northvolt said the rescoping of operations is critical to ensure a ‘sustainable operation and cost base’. In order to achieve this a workforce reduction of approximately 20% at a global level, and 25% in Sweden is required, it said.
"Northvolt restructures in Sweden" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
Another blow for electric vehicle drive as battery startup Northvolt lays off 1,600 workers
Tom Carter
Mon, September 23, 2024
European battery firm Northvolt said on Monday it would lay off 1,600 workers.
The startup, founded by two former Tesla execs, builds batteries for electric vehicles.
Northvolt has struggled financially, with BMW pulling out of a $2.1 billion order in June.
A European battery startup founded by two former Tesla executives is cutting a fifth of its workforce amid a darkening outlook for electric vehicles.
Swedish battery maker Northvolt announced on Monday it would lay off 1,600 employees and scale back on expansion plans, citing efforts to prioritize its existing customers.
Peter Carlsson, CEO and cofounder, said in a press release that the company needed to make "tough" decisions to respond to "headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate. We now need to focus all energy and investments into our core business."
The company was founded in 2016 by Carlsson and Paolo Cerutti and has been backed by investors including Goldman Sachs, Baillie Gifford, and Spotify cofounder Daniel Ek. It aimed to revolutionize battery manufacturing but has struggled in recent months.
BMW pulled out of a $2.1 billion order for battery cells for its EVs in June, outlets including Reuters reported.
Northvolt has also faced a series of deaths among workers at one of its factories near the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden.
In late 2023 the company asked investment banks to pitch for roles in a listing as soon as this year that could have valued Northvolt at about $20 billion. It's unclear when, or even if, the company will go public.
EV companies have slashed jobs over the past year as demand for electric vehicles has slowed. Tesla laid off more than 10% of its global workforce in April, and rivals Rivian and Lucid have also cut workers.
Northvolt did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Swedish battery maker Northvolt to slash 1,600 jobs, quarter of staff
Etienne FONTAINE
Mon, September 23, 2024
Northvolt Ett factory in Skelleftea will see 1,000 jobs cut as part of cost savings plan by the Swedish company (Jonathan NACKSTRAND) (Jonathan NACKSTRAND/AFP/AFP)
Sweden's beleaguered electric car battery maker Northvolt said Monday it would cut a quarter of its staff in the country, as it struggles with strained finances and a slowdown in demand.
The loss of 1,600 jobs in Sweden comes as electric car sales slump in Europe and the continent lags far behind China in battery production.
"While overall momentum for electrification remains strong, we need to make sure that we take the right actions at the right time in response to headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate," Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson said in a statement.
He added that Northvolt needed to "focus all energy and investments into our core business."
Northvolt, which warned on September 9 that cuts were coming, said that following "initial steps" of a strategic review it estimated that proposed cost-saving measures would result in about 1,000 redundancies at its primary Skelleftea plant -- where an expansion project would be suspended.
The company had intended to expand the capacity of the facility to provide an annual output of 30 GWh, but will now focus on ramping up to 16 GWh.
In July, it said it hoped to reach an annual production of over one GWh this year -- still far from the facility's capacity.
One GWh is enough to equip 20,000 average sized cars.
"Success in the ramp-up of production at Northvolt Ett is critical for delivering to our customers and enabling sustainable business operations," Carlsson said in a statement.
Another 400 positions would be cut in the city of Vasteras and 200 in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
"The rescoping of operations is critical to ensure a sustainable operation and cost base," Northvolt said.
It added that "to achieve this a workforce reduction of approximately 20 percent at a global level, and 25 percent in Sweden is required."
- Cornerstone -
The company employs 6,500 people, according to its website.
Northvolt has been seen as a cornerstone of European attempts to catch up with China and the United States in the production of battery cells, a crucial component of lower-emission cars.
Europe accounts for just three percent of global battery cell production, but has set its sights on 25 percent of the market by the end of the decade.
But the battery maker has also been plagued by production delays, which in May led BMW to drop an order worth 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion).
Northvolt still reports to have contracts worth $55 billion with customers such as Scania, Volvo and Volkswagen.
Volkswagen is also Northvolt's largest shareholder, with a 21 percent stake.
Production delays and lower demand from automotive customers have led to a rapidly deteriorating financial situation, which accelerated at the end of the summer, according to the business daily Dagens Industri.
According to Swedish media reports, Northvolt is trying to organise a new share issue to raise 7.5 billion kronor.
The battery maker has also faced scrutiny in Sweden over concerns about work safety at its sites, with Swedish police currently investigating a number of unexplained deaths of factory workers, who died after working at the plant in Skelleftea.
In mid-September, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that "there are no plans for the Swedish state to become a part owner of Northvolt or anything like that".
Since its creation, the Swedish company has secured $15 billion of credit and capital.
EV Battery Maker Will Cut Some 1,600 Jobs as Demand Slows
THE PERVERSITY OF CAPITALI$M
Tim De Chant
Tue, September 24, 2024
When is raising $14 billion not enough? When you’re a battery startup.
Northvolt, Europe’s attempt at building a competitor to Asia’s battery manufacturing powerhouses, announced on Monday that it had halted work on a factory expansion and laid off 1,600 employees, or about 20% of the workforce.
The company was planning to expand its Ett factory in northern Sweden to scale production to 30 gigawatt-hours annually. The expansion would have supplied cathode active material (CAM), a key component required to make completed cells. On September 9, the company also axed another CAM production site in Sweden. Without those factories, Northvolt will almost certainly have to buy it elsewhere, likely from overseas.
The cost cutting is the result of lower-than-expected demand growth, Northvolt said, as automakers trim their forecasts for electric vehicle production. Execution problems are probably also to blame. In June, the company was unable to fulfill an order for BMW on time, leading the German automaker to cancel the €2 billion contract. Northvolt did not immediately reply to TechCrunch’s request for comment, though it’s hard to see how that didn’t influence the company’s cost-cutting measures.
Ultimately, Northvolt faces two challenges.
For one, all battery startups face significant execution risk. Though batteries appear simple from the outside, the chemistry inside is fiendishly complex. It isn’t easy to develop materials that can store energy safely at high densities, that can be recharged at increasingly higher rates, and that can survive for more than a decade inside an automobile. Producing them at a massive scale only compounds the challenge. Just ask GM and LG what happens when you don’t get it right.
Northvolt has additional hurdles to surmount. It’s essentially building a copy of what Asian countries like China and South Korea already possess: a mature, scaled battery-manufacturing sector. Both China and South Korea have been working on it for decades, with consistent government support along the way. By comparison, Northvolt is only eight years old, and it only recently received substantial assistance from the EU and other governments.
The U.S. tried something similar nearly 20 years ago with A123 Systems. The startup pioneered production of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, which stored less energy than other chemistries but were more durable and safer to charge. It started by selling to power tool manufacturers and then began courting automakers, who even in the late 2000s were projected to buy the sort of volumes that would support large-scale domestic manufacturing.
A123 was in the running to make battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt, but after losing out to LG, its only customer ended up being the first iteration of Fisker, which was also making a plug-in hybrid. After one of those cars caught fire during Consumer Reports’ testing, A123’s fate was all but sealed.
What those high-profile stumbles don’t reveal were the other obstacles A123 faced, most of which revolved around standing up a battery supply chain where there was none. Northvolt has been a bit more successful, in part because there is some political appetite to make it happen. But the Swedish company’s announcements about curtailing CAM production show it’s still not easy to accomplish.
The second challenge that Northvolt faces is that automakers, its key partners, haven’t been able to decide where they stand on EVs. After years spent talking up the transition to all-EV lineups, they’ve since backed off the most aggressive targets. Most automakers’ early forecasts proved overly optimistic, and they appear to have underestimated the amount they’d need to invest to produce successful products. In the face of weaker-than-expected tailwinds, they have plunged into developing hybrids and plug-in hybrids, which require far fewer batteries.
To succeed in early markets requires all players to have conviction. Automakers, parts manufacturers, and investors all need to have bought into an EV future. If any one of them blinks, they all suffer. Northvolt is feeling that pain today.
Does it spell the end of battery manufacturing in Europe or North America, where Northvolt has plans to expand? Hardly. Demand for EVs is still strong and growing. And because batteries are heavy and expensive to ship, it makes sense to produce them near EV factories. Strong incentives courtesy of the Inflation Reduction Act and the European Green Deal help tip the scales further. That doesn’t mean Northvolt can be complacent — it still has to prove it can execute. But by the time that gets sorted, it’s likely the market will be ready for it.
View comments
Northvolt restructures in Sweden
David Leggett
Mon, September 23, 2024
EV battery firm Northvolt has outlined a review of operations in Sweden which will result in the loss of 1,600 jobs.
The move comes amid slowing sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Europe. The company cited headwinds in the automotive market.
The company said it will focus on accelerating production in large-scale cell manufacturing at Northvolt Ett. As part of that strategy, it is planning the redundancy of approximately 1,600 Northvolt employees, split across Skellefteå (1,000 positions), Västerås (400 positions) and Stockholm (200 positions). All redundancies are subject to ongoing union negotiations, the company said.
In adjusting its near-term ambitions and focusing on the ramp-up of the first 16 GWh phase of Northvolt Ett, Northvolt said it is positioning itself to prioritize commitments to its current automotive customers.
Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt, said: “While overall momentum for electrification remains strong, we need to make sure that we take the right actions at the right time in response to headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate.
“We now need to focus all energy and investments into our core business. Success in the ramp-up of production at Northvolt Ett is critical for delivering to our customers and enabling sustainable business operations. Recent production records at Northvolt Ett show that we are on the right path, but the decisions we’re taking today, however tough, are required for Northvolt’s future.”
Rescoped operations
In Skellefteå, Sweden, the development of Northvolt Ett expansion project will be suspended. The construction project was intended to provide an additional 30 GWh of annual cell manufacturing capacity. The decision follows the announcement earlier this month to place the Northvolt Ett cathode active material facility into ‘care and maintenance’.
In Västerås, Sweden, programs and expansion will be slowed at Northvolt Labs. The fundamental platforms hosted at Northvolt Labs will be maintained, enabling Northvolt Labs to retain its position as Europe’s ‘leading campus for battery innovation and product development’.
As it reduces the scope of its operations and programs in Sweden, Northvolt will also reduce the size of its corporate support functions, which today are largely located in Stockholm.
Northvolt said the rescoping of operations is critical to ensure a ‘sustainable operation and cost base’. In order to achieve this a workforce reduction of approximately 20% at a global level, and 25% in Sweden is required, it said.
"Northvolt restructures in Sweden" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
Another blow for electric vehicle drive as battery startup Northvolt lays off 1,600 workers
Tom Carter
Mon, September 23, 2024
European battery firm Northvolt said on Monday it would lay off 1,600 workers.
The startup, founded by two former Tesla execs, builds batteries for electric vehicles.
Northvolt has struggled financially, with BMW pulling out of a $2.1 billion order in June.
A European battery startup founded by two former Tesla executives is cutting a fifth of its workforce amid a darkening outlook for electric vehicles.
Swedish battery maker Northvolt announced on Monday it would lay off 1,600 employees and scale back on expansion plans, citing efforts to prioritize its existing customers.
Peter Carlsson, CEO and cofounder, said in a press release that the company needed to make "tough" decisions to respond to "headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate. We now need to focus all energy and investments into our core business."
The company was founded in 2016 by Carlsson and Paolo Cerutti and has been backed by investors including Goldman Sachs, Baillie Gifford, and Spotify cofounder Daniel Ek. It aimed to revolutionize battery manufacturing but has struggled in recent months.
BMW pulled out of a $2.1 billion order for battery cells for its EVs in June, outlets including Reuters reported.
Northvolt has also faced a series of deaths among workers at one of its factories near the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden.
In late 2023 the company asked investment banks to pitch for roles in a listing as soon as this year that could have valued Northvolt at about $20 billion. It's unclear when, or even if, the company will go public.
EV companies have slashed jobs over the past year as demand for electric vehicles has slowed. Tesla laid off more than 10% of its global workforce in April, and rivals Rivian and Lucid have also cut workers.
Northvolt did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Swedish battery maker Northvolt to slash 1,600 jobs, quarter of staff
Etienne FONTAINE
Mon, September 23, 2024
AFP
Northvolt Ett factory in Skelleftea will see 1,000 jobs cut as part of cost savings plan by the Swedish company (Jonathan NACKSTRAND) (Jonathan NACKSTRAND/AFP/AFP)
Sweden's beleaguered electric car battery maker Northvolt said Monday it would cut a quarter of its staff in the country, as it struggles with strained finances and a slowdown in demand.
The loss of 1,600 jobs in Sweden comes as electric car sales slump in Europe and the continent lags far behind China in battery production.
"While overall momentum for electrification remains strong, we need to make sure that we take the right actions at the right time in response to headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate," Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson said in a statement.
He added that Northvolt needed to "focus all energy and investments into our core business."
Northvolt, which warned on September 9 that cuts were coming, said that following "initial steps" of a strategic review it estimated that proposed cost-saving measures would result in about 1,000 redundancies at its primary Skelleftea plant -- where an expansion project would be suspended.
The company had intended to expand the capacity of the facility to provide an annual output of 30 GWh, but will now focus on ramping up to 16 GWh.
In July, it said it hoped to reach an annual production of over one GWh this year -- still far from the facility's capacity.
One GWh is enough to equip 20,000 average sized cars.
"Success in the ramp-up of production at Northvolt Ett is critical for delivering to our customers and enabling sustainable business operations," Carlsson said in a statement.
Another 400 positions would be cut in the city of Vasteras and 200 in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
"The rescoping of operations is critical to ensure a sustainable operation and cost base," Northvolt said.
It added that "to achieve this a workforce reduction of approximately 20 percent at a global level, and 25 percent in Sweden is required."
- Cornerstone -
The company employs 6,500 people, according to its website.
Northvolt has been seen as a cornerstone of European attempts to catch up with China and the United States in the production of battery cells, a crucial component of lower-emission cars.
Europe accounts for just three percent of global battery cell production, but has set its sights on 25 percent of the market by the end of the decade.
But the battery maker has also been plagued by production delays, which in May led BMW to drop an order worth 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion).
Northvolt still reports to have contracts worth $55 billion with customers such as Scania, Volvo and Volkswagen.
Volkswagen is also Northvolt's largest shareholder, with a 21 percent stake.
Production delays and lower demand from automotive customers have led to a rapidly deteriorating financial situation, which accelerated at the end of the summer, according to the business daily Dagens Industri.
According to Swedish media reports, Northvolt is trying to organise a new share issue to raise 7.5 billion kronor.
The battery maker has also faced scrutiny in Sweden over concerns about work safety at its sites, with Swedish police currently investigating a number of unexplained deaths of factory workers, who died after working at the plant in Skelleftea.
In mid-September, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that "there are no plans for the Swedish state to become a part owner of Northvolt or anything like that".
Since its creation, the Swedish company has secured $15 billion of credit and capital.
EV Battery Maker Will Cut Some 1,600 Jobs as Demand Slows
Jay Ramey
AUTO WEEK
Tue, September 24, 2024
EV Battery Maker Will Cut Jobs as Demand Slows
Tue, September 24, 2024
EV Battery Maker Will Cut Jobs as Demand Slows
John Walton - PA Images - Getty Images
Northvolt reveals plans to cut some 1,600 jobs in Europe, reducing its global workforce by 20%, amid cost-cutting measures and efforts to slow expansion.
The Swedish battery supplier has cited headwinds in the EV sphere for forcing it to slow its output and expansion, after several years of rapid growth.
EV demand is seen as slowing, according to several automakers, and has already resulted in curtailed model plans, plant downtime, and slashed development budgets in Europe and the US.
Swedish EV battery startup Northvolt signaled weeks ago that a significant pullback in its planned operations was on the horizon, amid a growing sense in the industry that the EV momentum of the early pandemic is showing signs of running out of steam.
The company has hinted in recent months that it expanded too quickly over the past few years, in line with industry expectations of the late 2010s, embarking on an ambitious plant building effort in northern Europe.
Now, Northvolt has specified just how many jobs cuts it will face amid what its CEO called "headwinds" in the EV business.
The company said it plans to cut 1,000 positions at its main site in Skellefteå, Sweden, with an additional 400 cuts planned for Västerås, and 200 in Stockholm.
Overall, the cuts will represent 20% of its current global workforce, and 25% in Sweden alone.
"While overall momentum for electrification remains strong, we need to make sure that we take the right actions at the right time in response to headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate," said Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt.
Not all automakers in Europe now share an optimistic view of the rate of EV adoption, after a couple years of fast-paced growth.
In the past few years a number of European automakers including Volvo and VW had struck deals with Northvolt for EV batteries for cars and heavy trucks, including Scania, anticipating a quicker pace of EV adoption.
Now, both VW and Volvo have pared down their EV lineup expectations, with Volvo backing off its earlier goal to go EV-only by 2030. Volvo has not specified just what percentage of its vehicles are likely to be BEV by the end of the decade, but collectively its BEV and PHEV offerings already reached 59% of its sales in Europe in 2023.
Northvolt also reiterated its plans to halt expansion of its Northvolt Ett plant; those additions were aimed at building an extra 30 GWh of annual cell capacity. The company will place the cathode active material production line there into care and maintenance.
Northvolt Labs, located in Västerås, will see a slowdown in expansion as well, as the company hinted earlier this month. Its corporate support personnel in Stockholm will also see reductions in headcount.
"Recent production records at Northvolt Ett show that we are on the right path, but the decisions we're taking today, however tough, are required for Northvolt's future," Carlsson added.
Will the annual percentage of EV sales reach 20% nationwide by 2030? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Northvolt reveals plans to cut some 1,600 jobs in Europe, reducing its global workforce by 20%, amid cost-cutting measures and efforts to slow expansion.
The Swedish battery supplier has cited headwinds in the EV sphere for forcing it to slow its output and expansion, after several years of rapid growth.
EV demand is seen as slowing, according to several automakers, and has already resulted in curtailed model plans, plant downtime, and slashed development budgets in Europe and the US.
Swedish EV battery startup Northvolt signaled weeks ago that a significant pullback in its planned operations was on the horizon, amid a growing sense in the industry that the EV momentum of the early pandemic is showing signs of running out of steam.
The company has hinted in recent months that it expanded too quickly over the past few years, in line with industry expectations of the late 2010s, embarking on an ambitious plant building effort in northern Europe.
Now, Northvolt has specified just how many jobs cuts it will face amid what its CEO called "headwinds" in the EV business.
The company said it plans to cut 1,000 positions at its main site in Skellefteå, Sweden, with an additional 400 cuts planned for Västerås, and 200 in Stockholm.
Overall, the cuts will represent 20% of its current global workforce, and 25% in Sweden alone.
"While overall momentum for electrification remains strong, we need to make sure that we take the right actions at the right time in response to headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate," said Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt.
Not all automakers in Europe now share an optimistic view of the rate of EV adoption, after a couple years of fast-paced growth.
In the past few years a number of European automakers including Volvo and VW had struck deals with Northvolt for EV batteries for cars and heavy trucks, including Scania, anticipating a quicker pace of EV adoption.
Now, both VW and Volvo have pared down their EV lineup expectations, with Volvo backing off its earlier goal to go EV-only by 2030. Volvo has not specified just what percentage of its vehicles are likely to be BEV by the end of the decade, but collectively its BEV and PHEV offerings already reached 59% of its sales in Europe in 2023.
Northvolt also reiterated its plans to halt expansion of its Northvolt Ett plant; those additions were aimed at building an extra 30 GWh of annual cell capacity. The company will place the cathode active material production line there into care and maintenance.
Northvolt Labs, located in Västerås, will see a slowdown in expansion as well, as the company hinted earlier this month. Its corporate support personnel in Stockholm will also see reductions in headcount.
"Recent production records at Northvolt Ett show that we are on the right path, but the decisions we're taking today, however tough, are required for Northvolt's future," Carlsson added.
Will the annual percentage of EV sales reach 20% nationwide by 2030? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
