Swedish prosecutors plan to issue a notice of gross negligence causing death to Northvolt after a worker died at the EV battery maker’s struggling giant factory in the country’s frigid north, reports the Financial Times. reported.
Environmental Prosecutor Christel B. Yarlas told the newspaper that the agency plans to issue a formal notice in the coming weeks and that Northvolt is being investigated for possible liability in the incident. He said it suggests that.
The notice concerns a 25-year-old Northvolt employee who died on December 15 after suffering severe burns in an explosion on a production line at the company’s giant factory in Skellefteå a month earlier.
In another incident on Dec. 15, a construction worker was killed and another injured when a fork stand fell during construction of a concrete foundation for a Northvolt factory expansion.
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Northvolt suspended production at its factory following the fatal accident, exacerbating existing delays and particularly affecting deliveries to Swedish truck maker Scania.
In June, Swedish police launched an investigation into the mysterious deaths of three workers at the factory, who died in their sleep after work. An initial police investigation concluded the deaths were not related. Northbolt called this a “tragic coincidence.” Toyota has temporarily pulled employees from the plant following the fatal accident.
From battery boom to collapse?
The impending lawsuit is the latest in a difficult year for Northvolt, which has struggled to increase battery production amid weak EV sales and fierce competition from Chinese battery makers and faces liquidity issues. This has been a major blow.
Former Tesla executive Peter Carlson co-founded Northvolt in 2016 with the goal of building Europe’s leading lithium-ion battery manufacturer. The company has since secured a whopping $15 billion in debt, equity and government funding, making it a cornerstone of the continent’s bid to catch up with the United States and China in battery cell production.
But in recent months, Northvolt has laid off a quarter of its employees, scrapped plans to build a new factory in Borlänge, Sweden, closed its San Francisco R&D site and suspended production of new cathodes. , sought a buyer for its energy storage equipment. work. In June, BMW terminated a $2 billion EV battery supply contract with Northvolt, which has struggled to meet demand from automakers.
Europe’s most valuable startups need a lifeline, but it’s unclear at this stage where that will come from. Sweden’s prime minister this month ruled out a national bailout for Northvolt, saying it was up to private investors and the company to resolve the issue.
A group of Northvolt financial institutions will meet today to consider whether to extend support or cut losses and risk losing billions of dollars, according to Bloomberg. Their verdict could prove crucial in preventing Northvolt from tumbling from Europe’s battery prodigy to an economic heap of scrap metal and lithium.
