Europe’s Big Battery Ambitions Are Failing, and China Is Benefiting
Northvolt’s cash crunch and local factories getting canceled undermine the region’s push to reduce reliance on Asia.
The Northvolt Drei EV battery plant in Heide, Germany, one of several European-led battery facilities to have been delayed or canceled.
Photographer: Maria Feck/BloombergEurope’s bid to build a homegrown battery industry to break China’s dominance in electric vehicles is failing.
The most high-profile setback yet came with the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Northvolt AB, a Swedish startup whose backers include Volkswagen AG and BMW AG. Fallout is spreading across the region as EV demand wanes and local manufacturers struggle to master the technology. Eleven out of 16 planned European-led battery factories have been delayed or canceled, according to a Bloomberg News analysis.