Four years ago, it was still just a crazy gamble. Today, in Skelleftea in northern Sweden, the dream is coming true. In a few months, by the end of 2021, the Northvolt plant near the Arctic Circle will start delivering its first batteries for electric cars. A small feat: the former Swedish “start-up”, which employs more than 1,000 people, will be the first European company to produce batteries on the Old Continent.
Five years have already passed since the first meetings, in 2016, around Peter Carlsson and his friend Paolo Cerruti, in a small office in Stockholm. Both former Tesla employees, they then have this vision of a bright future for electric cars, for which batteries stamped made in Europe will be welcome, in a market still totally dominated by Asian companies.