German automaker BMW said today that it has canceled a €2 billion ($2.15 billion) order for EV battery cells with Northvolt.
German media Handelsblatt and manager magazin reported that the Swedish lithium-ion battery maker couldn’t deliver on time on a long-term supply contract for battery cells agreed with BMW in 2020.
A BMW spokesperson said today, “Northvolt and the BMW Group have jointly decided to focus Northvolt’s activities on the goal of developing next-generation battery cells. The BMW Group continues to have a strong interest in establishing a high-performance manufacturer of circular and sustainable battery cells in Europe.”
Korea’s Samsung SDI will step in to fill the gap created at BMW by the cancellation.
manager magazine said Northvolt is having trouble ramping up industrial series production – it’s two years behind schedule and producing too much waste.
BMW ordered Northvolt’s cells for its fifth generation of batteries. They were to be manufactured in Sweden starting this year with 100% renewable energy from wind and hydropower. However, Northvolt will still supply the next-gen battery cells that BMW needs for its Vision Neue Klasse EVs.
In January, Northvolt announced it had raised $5 billion to enable the expansion of Northvolt Ett in northern Sweden and recycle batteries – the largest green loan raised in Europe to date. And in March, it broke ground on a battery gigafactory in Heide, Germany.
Yesterday, Northvolt said it was reviewing plans to build a new factory in Borlange, Sweden, but hasn’t yet decided after Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri reported that it was canceling the factory. The newspaper cited a municipal official.
