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EXCLUSIVE Northvolt plots EV battery grab with $750 mln Swedish lab plan

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Northvolt emblem is pictured within the Northvolt workplace in Stockholm, Sweden June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Esha Vaish

STOCKHOLM, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Northvolt plans to speculate $750 million increasing its laboratory facility in Sweden, a high govt stated, to satisfy hovering demand for lithium-ion batteries as carmakers go electrical.

Because it goals to tackle main Asian gamers reminiscent of CATL and LG Chem , Northvolt stated it could arrange the “first R&D campus masking your entire battery ecosystem”.

Northvolt, which plans to start out manufacturing this yr at its gigafactory in Sweden’s Skelleftea, plans to construct a brand new workplace in Vasteras, improve headcount there to at the least 1,000 from 400, and create a centre for purchasers to experiment with battery applied sciences and electrification.

China is at present house to some 80% of lithium-ion cell manufacturing, however with demand hovering, capability in Europe is about to develop rapidly and Northvolt is focusing on a 25% market share in Europe by 2030.

“The event in Vasteras is the funnel proper now that may allow us to try this land seize,” Northvolt Chief Govt Peter Carlsson instructed Reuters, including that this might require it to rent round 5,000 engineers inside 5 years.

“I’ve some slide presentation on the very early ideas … we hadn’t chosen Vasteras then however we had a primary price range of 80 million {dollars},” Carlsson stated in an interview.

European carmakers want to use batteries from Northvolt for his or her electrical autos to rival these from Tesla , which is constructing its personal manufacturing facility in Germany.

Backed by Volkswagen , Scania (SCVSA.UL), the European Fee and Spotify founder Daniel Ek, Northvolt has raised funding of greater than $6.5 billion, with practically $20 billion in orders from the largest automakers.

A supply stated in June that its newest fundraising had valued Northvolt at $11.75 billion. Electrical car and associated sectors have been an enormous draw for buyers, who’ve pushed up the valuations of pioneers reminiscent of Tesla and Lucid Motors.

Reporting by Helena Soderpalm; Enhancing by Alexander Smith

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