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Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden on Wednesday, the latest blow to Europe’s attempts to create a battery manufacturing juggernaut that could rival the Chinese giants.
Though the Swedish startup has raised more than $14 billion, it has been running short on cash recently. Northvolt had previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. in November. Since then, it’s been racing to conserve cash and raise new funds in an effort to stave off insolvency.
Those efforts have fallen short.
“Northvolt has experienced a series of compounding challenges in recent months that eroded its financial position, including rising capital costs, geopolitical instability, subsequent supply chain disruptions, and shifts in market demand,” the company said in a statement.
European countries and automakers had pinned their hopes on Northvolt, which represented a bold bet on EU battery manufacturing. Most battery factories today are built and run by Chinese, Japanese, or Korean companies.
The ailing manufacturer had secured a $5 billion debt deal in January 2024, but it was struggling to bring in revenue as it burned through a reported $100 million per month.
Northvolt’s fortunes took a more decisive turn when BMW canceled a $2 billion contract in June 2024. The battery manufacturer had been unable to deliver on time.
To conserve cash, it laid off 1,600 employees and sold the assets of its Cuberg division, a Bay Area solid-state battery startup it acquired in 2021.
Northvolt had been seeking additional financing from lenders, but it was unable to reach an agreement with them. That impasse, coupled with previous failures, weren’t enough to extend the company’s runway far enough to master its manufacturing woes and build a solid customer base.
Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Ars Technica, The Wire China, and NOVA Next, where he was founding editor. De Chant is also a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing, and he was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, during which time he studied climate technologies and explored new business models for journalism. He received his PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College.
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