TV documentary casts doubt on Northvolt’s ‘green batteries’

According to research by Swedish television, the insolvent battery cell manufacturer Northvolt has hardly any batteries in circulation so far. Furthermore, batteries that have already been installed are said to contain none of the Swedish company's own cathode active material. The journalists conclude that Northvolt has failed with its promise of a ‘green’ electric car battery.

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Northvolt has been undergoing creditor protection proceedings under US law since November 2024. Since then, Northvolt has been focussing on cell production at its own battery factory Northvolt Ett in Skelleftea, northern Sweden. The company has parted company with other projects since the strategic review launched in the summer. Since then, the production of cathode active material (CAM) at the headquarters in Skelleftea has also been officially paused.

However, even before the pause, the CAM plant was apparently not producing a usable product, as reported by the public broadcaster SVT. According to anonymous employees, it was mainly rejects that came off the production line. As a result, not a single battery delivered to date contains the company’s own cathode active material, which has so far been sourced from external partners – primarily from China, according to the SVT documentary. Northvolt itself makes no secret of this and already stated this in its 2023 Sustainability and Annual Report, for example.

The low footprint of its batteries, which Northvolt always claims, is therefore higher than expected. The manufacturer now also admits this on its website: Imports increase the CO2 footprint of each battery by ten kilograms per kilowatt-hour, it says there. Meanwhile, according to SVT, Northvolt is sticking to its plans to produce its own cathode active material.

In the further course of the investigation, the TV team’s attempt to see a vehicle running on a Northvolt battery was also unsuccessful. Although launch customer Scania claims to have installed Northvolt batteries in 800 trucks, the manufacturer did not want to demonstrate a drivable truck to the makers of the documentary. Research by the journalists among end customers also failed.

Northvolt recently announced on Linkedin that it has delivered its millionth cell to its customers. And as far as Scania trucks with Northvolt batteries are concerned, a spokeswoman for the company refers to a test drive by the British magazine Commercial Motor, which was accompanied by cameras.

tagesschau.de (in German)