In a detailed interview with Manager Magazin, Peter Carlsson, head of the Swedish electric car battery start-up Northvolt, spoke about the company’s finances and plans.
When asked about a possible failure of the project, Carlson said: ‘I think we are past the point where we could fail like a start-up that runs out of cash.’ The shareholders are in favour of Northvolt becoming a central part of a European infrastructure. Politicians are also in favour of the project.
Northvolt is planning several battery factories in Europe and North America. Each project is financed ‘with a healthy mix of equity and debt; and on the debt side, institutions such as the European Investment Bank and the Swedish National Debt Office provide the private banks with the necessary security,’ explained the CEO. A variable interest rate is paid, three percentage points above the interest rate for risk-free bonds. This is very competitive. The purchase guarantees of some major customers have helped.
Northvolt’s customers include the car manufacturers BMW, Volkswagen and Volvo Cars. BMW and VW are also directly involved in the start-up, and a joint battery cell factory is being built in Sweden with Volvo.
The German factory ‘Northvolt Drei’ is expected to produce battery cells in the order of 60 GWh per year after its final expansion in 2029. Northvolt is also currently planning the Northvolt Ett (Skellefteå, Sweden), Northvolt Dwa (Gdansk, Poland), the ‘Novo’ gigafactory of the Northvolt-Volvo Cars joint venture (Gothenburg, Sweden), Northvolt Fem (Borlänge, Sweden), Northvolt Cuberg (San Leandro, USA) and Northvolt Six (Montreal, Canada) plants. IPO not in a hurry
Northvolt has been instructed by its Supervisory Board to be ready for an IPO as quickly as possible. Carlsson comments: ‘We are also waiting for the right conditions. We don’t have to go public.’ The company is not in a hurry and is monitoring the situation closely. Financing via the public capital market is much easier than via the private market. However, the investors would not ‘push’.
A few days ago, the Northvolt boss predicted that sales of battery cells could rise from just under 700 gigawatt hours per year today to 5,000 in the next ten years. With regard to the Swedes’ potential share of this, he said: ’We are just getting started. We are expanding our plants to 150 gigawatt hours as a first step and can then expand them.’ The current maximum of the project’s scenarios is around 220 gigawatt hours.
The first electric cars with Northvolt battery cells are still a long way off. According to the company boss, the manufacturer Scania, which belongs to Volkswagen via its commercial vehicle subsidiary Traton, will be the first. Scania is now bringing the first electric trucks with Northvolt cells, followed by cars from ‘two southern German manufacturers’ – specifically Audi and Porsche, which will probably be using batteries from the Swedes from 2025.
When asked whether Northvolt could compete with the already established, fast-growing battery cell giants from Asia, former Tesla manager Carlsson said: ‘’You’re too small, you don’t stand a chance. That’s what everyone told us at Tesla. But if we get to 100 and then 200 gigawatt hours at Northvolt, then these are sizes at which we can achieve very competitive cost structures.’
The rapid growth of Chinese battery manufacturer CATL, for example, is ‘impressive’, the Northvolt boss admitted. ‘But with our expertise and, above all, the advantages of our sustainability strategy, we can be very successful.’
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Translation:
In a detailed interview with Manager Magazin, Peter Carlsson, head of the Swedish electric car battery start-up Northvolt, spoke about the company’s finances and plans.
When asked about a possible failure of the project, Carlson said: ‘I think we are past the point where we could fail like a start-up that runs out of cash.’ The shareholders are in favour of Northvolt becoming a central part of a European infrastructure. Politicians are also in favour of the project.
Northvolt is planning several battery factories in Europe and North America. Each project is financed ‘with a healthy mix of equity and debt; and on the debt side, institutions such as the European Investment Bank and the Swedish National Debt Office provide the private banks with the necessary security,’ explained the CEO. A variable interest rate is paid, three percentage points above the interest rate for risk-free bonds. This is very competitive. The purchase guarantees of some major customers have helped.
Northvolt’s customers include the car manufacturers BMW, Volkswagen and Volvo Cars. BMW and VW are also directly involved in the start-up, and a joint battery cell factory is being built in Sweden with Volvo.
The German factory ‘Northvolt Drei’ is expected to produce battery cells in the order of 60 GWh per year after its final expansion in 2029. Northvolt is also currently planning the Northvolt Ett (Skellefteå, Sweden), Northvolt Dwa (Gdansk, Poland), the ‘Novo’ gigafactory of the Northvolt-Volvo Cars joint venture (Gothenburg, Sweden), Northvolt Fem (Borlänge, Sweden), Northvolt Cuberg (San Leandro, USA) and Northvolt Six (Montreal, Canada) plants.
IPO not in a hurry
Northvolt has been instructed by its Supervisory Board to be ready for an IPO as quickly as possible. Carlsson comments: ‘We are also waiting for the right conditions. We don’t have to go public.’ The company is not in a hurry and is monitoring the situation closely. Financing via the public capital market is much easier than via the private market. However, the investors would not ‘push’.
A few days ago, the Northvolt boss predicted that sales of battery cells could rise from just under 700 gigawatt hours per year today to 5,000 in the next ten years. With regard to the Swedes’ potential share of this, he said: ’We are just getting started. We are expanding our plants to 150 gigawatt hours as a first step and can then expand them.’ The current maximum of the project’s scenarios is around 220 gigawatt hours.
The first electric cars with Northvolt battery cells are still a long way off. According to the company boss, the manufacturer Scania, which belongs to Volkswagen via its commercial vehicle subsidiary Traton, will be the first. Scania is now bringing the first electric trucks with Northvolt cells, followed by cars from ‘two southern German manufacturers’ – specifically Audi and Porsche, which will probably be using batteries from the Swedes from 2025.
When asked whether Northvolt could compete with the already established, fast-growing battery cell giants from Asia, former Tesla manager Carlsson said: ‘’You’re too small, you don’t stand a chance. That’s what everyone told us at Tesla. But if we get to 100 and then 200 gigawatt hours at Northvolt, then these are sizes at which we can achieve very competitive cost structures.’
The rapid growth of Chinese battery manufacturer CATL, for example, is ‘impressive’, the Northvolt boss admitted. ‘But with our expertise and, above all, the advantages of our sustainability strategy, we can be very successful.’