Carlsson will become a senior adviser and remain a member of the board.
His decision to leave, what had been seen as Europe's best hope for an electric vehicle battery champion, came after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, a move many had expected to see for some time.
Based in Sweden, this maker of battery cells has collapsed in a matter of months and in doing so has dealt a significant blow to Europe’s hopes of moving decisively away from using batteries supplied by Chinese companies. The failure of Northvolt is being attributed to manufacturing problems and to a lack of funds.
Since being established in 2016 the company has raised over $10bn and attracted investors including the likes of Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs but, despite all that, has burned through funds and now needs, according to Carlsson, a sizeable injection of new capital.
The decision to seek Chapter 11 appears to have come because of the failure of talks with investors and creditors and simply because the money was running out.
Northvolt has certainly bought itself time to reorganise, increase production and meet commitments made with existing customers and suppliers.
However, debts amount to around $5.8 billion, while the company has just $30m in cash although it did receive new funding of $100m from investor Scania to help it keep operating.
What the future holds no one knows for sure and while Northvolt expects to complete the restructuring by the first quarter of 2025 where it goes from there is unclear.
Faults with machines, inexperienced staff and unrealistic ambitions have been blamed for the failure of the business.
While Northvolt said that it was looking for one or more partners to finance its restructuring and to help it return to long-term sustainability it also warned that it would also be preparing for an orderly liquidation process if necessary.
