Northvolt acquires US battery start-up, plans new benchmark in energy density

Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt has bought US-based battery technology company Cuberg and plans to scale up the company’s lithium metal battery technology so as to start selling battery cells in 2025 that exceed 1,000 watt hours a litre, a new benchmark in energy density.

Northvolt, which was founded in 2016 and quickly garnered attention after German automaker Volkswagen AG acquired a 20% stake in 2019, is also in the process of developing two lithium-ion battery gigafactories, Northvolt Ett in Skellefteå, Sweden, and Northvolt Zwei in Salzgitter, Germany.

Northvolt’s acquisition of Cuberg will expand the company’s operations into North America, where Cuberg will lead Northvolt’s US operations in developing next-generation battery cells for the electromobility market.

Northvolt will also establish a new advanced technology centre in Silicon Valley based on the Cuberg acquisition and is already actively hiring top battery industry talent to support these efforts.

“The Cuberg team has shown exceptional ability to develop world-class technology, proven results and an outstanding customer base in a lean and efficient organization,” said Peter Carlsson, Northvolt’s CEO and Co-Founder.

“Combining these strengths with the capabilities and technology of Northvolt allows us to make significant improvements in both performance and safety while driving down cost even further for next-generation battery cells.

This is critical for accelerating the shift to fully electric vehicles and responding to the needs of the leading automotive companies within a relevant time frame.”

Cuberg was spun out of Stanford University back in 2015 with an aim towards commercialising next-generation battery technology that is based on a ground-breaking liquid electrolyte combined with a lithium metal anode.

The company’s batteries are optimally designed for commercialisation, and offer a lower price point, better performance, and increased safety.

Specifically, Cuberg’s lithium metal batteries offer 70% increased range and capacity as compared to lithium-ion cells designed for high-rate electric aviation applications.

Building on this technological foundation, Northvolt and Cuberg hope to mature its automotive and industrial product portfolio to a point where it is able to offer industrialised cells in 2025 that exceed 1,000Wh a litre, compared to previous expectations of around 800Wh/l.

Importantly, Cuberg has already demonstrated the compatibility of its lithium metal technology with the existing lithium-ion manufacturing ecosystem, which will in turn minimise the new technology’s time to market and allows for rapid commercial deployment.

“We are very excited to join forces with Northvolt to build the future of clean energy together,” said Richard Wang, CEO and Co-Founder of Cuberg.

“Northvolt brings incredible technology and manufacturing capabilities that will accelerate the commercialization and adoption of our lithium metal technology. Their deep engineering experience and bold spirit perfectly complement Cuberg’s own culture of rapid innovation.”

Cuberg already counts among its customers big-name mobility companies such as Boeing, BETA Technologies, Ampaire, and VoltAero, and is financially backed by Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Activate.org, the California Energy Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the TomKat Center at Stanford.