The company is said to be regularly missing weekly production goals for shippable cells, or cells deemed good enough to be delivered to clients, and while Northvolt has suggested that those figures are out of date it has not elaborated on current levels of production.
It’s been a tough few months for the company which was seen as Europe’s ‘big chance’ to compete against Chinese dominance of the EV market. In September it dismissed a fifth of its global workforce and significantly cut back its operations while there are suggestions that Northvolt has been holding discussions about filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.
The company has struggled to maintain deliveries and to produce sufficient volumes of high-quality batteries, which has resulted in the loss of some major clients and contracts – BMW being one of them.
Production appears to be just over 20,000 cells per week, that were deemed shippable. The company has a weekly target of 30,000 which is well off the ‘Path to 100k’ the company outlined just a few months ago.
Northvolt's problems appear to be due to faults with machines, inexperienced staff and unrealistic ambitions. However, despite these ongoing problems, Northvolt remains ahead of other European battery makers, according to industry experts.
Northvolt’s problems demonstrate the challenges off battery manufacturing - it’s a complex process – and the challenges of competing with China.
