Hyperdrive

Europe’s First Homegrown Battery Plant Begins Shipments

  • Sweden’s Northvolt continues to hire 150 people per month
  • BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo among customers, company has said

A Lithium-ion prismatic cell battery at the Northvolt plant.

Photographer: Mikael Sjoberg/Bloomberg
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Swedish battery-maker Northvolt AB became the first European firm to start commercial shipments to a carmaker last week, giving shape to the continent’s five-year push to counter Asian dominance in supplying energy cells for electric vehicles.

The first deliveries, which came from Northvolt’s plant in Skelleftea, Sweden, were made on schedule, a spokesman said. The company is hiring about 150 people per month at the plant, which currently employs about 1,000 workers, he added.