Mar 18, 2025 · Northvolt''s bankruptcy raises concerns about Europe''s ability to compete in this rapidly growing battery market. It also highlights the urgent need for stronger domestic
Twelve out of 16 planned European-led battery factories have been delayed or canceled, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. Meanwhile, 10 of 13 projects in the region by Asian manufacturers such as China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and South Korea’s Samsung SDI are on track.
A Northvolt factory worker. The most high-profile setback yet came with the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Northvolt AB. Europe’s bid to build a homegrown battery industry to break China’s dominance in electric vehicles is failing.
Groups such as the French Automotive Cells Company and Verkor, and Germany’s PowerCo, are trying to scale up the production of high-power batteries and challenge Asian counterparts such as CATL and BYD. A lithium battery production line in Yongzhou, China © Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images
“Investors are asking companies to prove they are not the next Northvolt,” an industry adviser told the Financial Times at Batteries Event, a recent industry conference in Dunkirk. Europe wants to make 90 per cent of batteries within the continent by 2030. But production capacity will still lag behind China.
REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights BERLIN, Aug 25 (Reuters) - German carmaker Porsche AG (P911_p.DE) has scrapped plans to produce high-performance batteries at its Cellforce unit, citing slow demand for electric vehicles and changed conditions in China and the United States.
Three months later, Northvolt laid off a fifth of its workforce and scrapped two cathode material production facilities in Sweden — moves that failed to reassure investors. The manufacturer filed for bankruptcy protection in the US last month after racking up more than $5.8 billion in debt.
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