Northvolt to sell industrial battery pack division

Troubled European battery maker Northvolt has signed a sale agreement for its industrial battery division as it attempts to restructure and refocus on its core large-scale battery cell manufacturing operations.

The Swedish company, which has suffered from lower-than-expected demand from the electric vehicle market, said it will sell its Northvolt Systems Industrial division to an unnamed “leading industrial group,” subject to the signing of binding agreements and securing regulatory clearance.

Announcing the potential sale today, Northvolt said its Systems Industrial division, established in 2018, employs around 300 people at a battery systems prototyping facility in Stockholm, Sweden, and at its production site in Gdansk, Poland.

The parent company said the division’s 2025 orders would be completed as normal after the planned transfer of ownership.

Systems Industrial produces 21 kWh to 624 kWh Voltpack Core battery packs for use in applications such as heavy materials handling and agriculture, and to power construction equipment, mining, drilling and piling, and municipal services. Customers have included Finnish forklift truck maker Konecranes, Swedish mining and infrastructure equipment maker Epiroc, and Austrian airport ground support equipment supplier Dynell.

Northvolt’s website states the Voltpack Core battery pack has a voltage of up to 1 kV and is an “off-the-shelf, plug-and-play” solution to industrial electrification which can replace heavy diesel engines.

Elin Åkerström, vice president of Northvolt Systems Industrial, said the division had sold more than 3,300 Voltpack Cores and achieved around 10 million hours of runtime for them.

Northvolt began restructuring in September, when it shelved plans for a second cathode active materials (CAM) plant at a planned “Northvolt FEM” site in Sweden and shuttered its existing CAM production at its Ett Upstream 1 site, also in Sweden. Having previously announced plans to close Californian R&D subsidiary Cuberg, to move operations to Northvolt Labs, in Sweden, the company also announced it was seeking a partner for its Gdansk production operations.