November 22nd, 2023
On November 22nd, a delegation from the Swedish battery and cell manufacturer Northvolt visited the Helmholtz Institute in Ulm. In addition to battery construction, Northvolt has also been operating its own cell production for several years and is now building another cell production plant in Heide (Dithmarschen) in northern Germany. The capacity of the first German plant should be around 60 GWh at full production one day and be enough to power one million vehicles.
The Northvolt delegation’s visit primarily served to establish further contacts with battery research in Ulm. Common topics included future, innovative cell chemistries for battery cells, the training of specialists for the battery sector, processes in cell production and the European economic location for battery production.
Welcome to HIU, @northvolt! 🏭🔋 1 day after Northvolt's announcement to soon produce #sodium-ion #batteries a NV delegation visited our institute in Ulm. Lots of intense talks, great getting to know you! @MaxFichtner @ClusterPolis @CELEST_18 @uni_ulm @DLR_Energie @KITKarlsruhe pic.twitter.com/D87Vx2X6Xd
— Helmholtz Institute Ulm 🔋 (@HelmholtzUlm) November 23, 2023
As a manufacturer of lithium-ion cells, Northvolt focuses on applications in electric cars and stationary energy storage systems.
The cell manufacturer recently announced that it would now also develop sodium-ion batteries. The manufacturer announced a sodium cell that is said to be produced more cost-effectively and sustainably than the sodium-ion cells from Asia that are common today. The cell chemistry is developed at Northvolt Labs, in Västerås in Sweden. Northvolt stated in a press release that it had initially designed its own sodium-ion batteries only for stationary applications and not yet for electromobility.