Northvolt, a Swedish manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries, wants to go public within the next two years.
While Northvolt may not be as well-known in the auto industry as other battery suppliers like CATL, Samsung, and Panasonic, it has already been valued at roughly $12 billion. Speaking with Auto News, founder and chairman Carl-Erik Lagercrantz said the company is “well-positioned” for an initial public offer in the future, despite it having “no need from a funding perspective.”
Northvolt is different from many other battery suppliers as it relies heavily on renewable power and is focused on minimizing its CO2 footprint. It started commercial shipments of batteries to an unspecific automaker from its plant in Skelleftea, Sweden in May.
Read More: Volvo’s New Gothenburg Battery Plant Is Powered By Renewable Energy
The company is also working to establish a new plant in Gothenburg, Sweden that will supply Volvo and Polestar with batteries. This new factory will open in 2025 and complement the research and development center that Volvo and Northvolt announced in December 2021.
Sustainable production will be at the core of this factory which will be powered by fossil-free energy. The facility will have a potential annual cell production capacity of up to 50 gWh, enough to supply batteries to 500,000 electric vehicles each year. The R&D center being developed by the two companies will become operational this year and focus on developing batteries with long ranges and fast charging times.
In mid-2020, BMW signed a €2 billion ($2.3 billion) supply deal with Northvolt. This deal will see Northvolt manufacture the battery cells that BMW requires with the first cells set to be delivered in 2024. Jaguar Land Rover is also thought to have recently held discussions with Northvolt about a potential battery supply deal.
