"Too many rejects": BMW withdraws billion-euro order from Northvolt

BMW has withdrawn an order for battery cells worth two billion euros from the Swedish supplier Northvolt. "Northvolt and the BMW Group have jointly decided to focus Northvolt's activities on the goal of developing next-generation battery cells," a BMW spokesperson said today, confirming a report in Manager Magazin.

The magazine cited problems at the cell supplier, which was founded in 2016, in ramping up industrial series production as the reason. Northvolt is two years behind schedule and is producing too many rejects.

BMW wants to continue to commission Northvolt despite problems

BMW did not want to comment on the reasons for canceling the order. The spokesperson said that his company is "still very interested in establishing a high-performance manufacturer of circular and sustainable battery cells in Europe".

Northvolt plans to manufacture battery cells for electric cars in Schleswig-Holstein from 2026. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) were present at the ground-breaking ceremony for the "Gigafactory" near Heide in March.

BMW had ordered the Northvolt cells for its current fifth generation of batteries. They will be manufactured at the Northvolt factory in Skellefteå in northern Sweden from 2024, with energy "100% from wind and hydropower", as both companies emphasized when the contract was signed in July 2020. Now the Korean supplier Samsung SDI is set to fill the gap. However, the next-generation battery cells that BMW needs for its "New Class" e-cars are to come from Northvolt.

(mack)