Scania is integrating the design and development of electric batteries into its commercial vehicle production chain with the acquisition of this business from Northvolt, a Swedish company undergoing restructuring due to severe financial losses. The two companies announced the agreement on 18 February 2025, though no terms were disclosed. Battery production for electric trucks was one of the few profitable divisions of Northvolt, a company initially intended to be Europe’s flagship in the electric vehicle battery sector, but which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States in November 2024.
Scania's acquisition covers Northvolt Systems Industrial, which employs approximately three hundred people working in Stockholm on prototype development and in Gdansk on battery production for sale. This division will be integrated into Traton, the Volkswagen-controlled parent company that also includes Man Trucks & Bus. Northvolt will continue producing battery cells in Sweden, while the fate of its planned factories in Germany and Canada remains uncertain.
Northvolt was founded in 2015 by Peter Carlsson, Paolo Cerruti, Harald Mix, and Carl-Erik Lagercrantz (the latter two former Tesla executives) with the aim of becoming Europe's leading battery manufacturer for electric vehicles, reducing reliance on Chinese imports. From its inception, the company attracted high-profile investors such as Goldman Sachs, Volkswagen, and the European Investment Bank, raising approximately 13 billion dollars in funding. In 2018, it began construction of its first plant in Skellefteå, Sweden.
The production output of this facility, which started operations in 2021, never reached the planned capacity of 60 GWh per year, hindered by the automotive sector crisis, difficulties in sourcing raw materials, and delays in key technology development. In September 2024, Northvolt announced the dismissal of 1,600 employees, reducing its workforce from 5,800 to 4,200 and scaling back expansion projects to a minimum. These setbacks culminated in the Chapter 11 filing in November 2024 due to a debt burden of 5.86 billion euros.
Meanwhile, Northvolt had established a collaboration with Scania, supplying batteries for its electric trucks. In addition, Scania invested 10 million euros in Northvolt in 2017. The partnership is expected to continue at Scania's battery assembly plant in Södertälje, where Northvolt may still supply battery cells.
