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India's EV & Battery Industry : News & Discussions.
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Work on lithium exploration in Reasi has started: Reddy
New Delhi: The government is planning to begin the auction of offshore mineral blocks in the next two to three months and around 10 such mines are likely to be
kashmirreader.com
Not 100% relevant, but good reference.
The CEO Mr Zeng of CATL commented the failture of this EU's only hope:
“It's because they have the wrong design. And secondly, they have the wrong process. Thirdly, they have the wrong equipment How can they scale up?"
Here is key points of this failture of Northvolt, i translated into English.
The Information (www.theinformation.com) published an investigative report that thoroughly reviewed how Northvolt, the "only hope" of the European battery industry, suffered a complete failure.
-Before filing for bankruptcy protection last week, Northvolt had already raised a huge investment of $14 billion, and now only $30 million is left in cash on its books. A series of top investment institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Volkswagen, Siemens, etc., are facing the result of losing everything, which may be the most devastating investment failure event in the technology industry;
-It is not an exaggeration to say that Northvolt was born with a golden spoon in its mouth. In order to regain the dominant position in the new energy battery industry from China, from the founding country Sweden to the entire European Union, and even to Canada in North America, Northvolt has been granted special loans and land grants along the way, and subsidies have been given to everyone;
-But Northvolt's entry into the battery industry was "impure" from the beginning. Its advantage in positioning itself was neither technology nor price, but a politically correct commitment to produce only environmentally friendly energy sources such as hydropower and wind power. European car manufacturers, for reputation reasons, will lean towards suppliers with their own "redemption coupons";
-The initial development was indeed as expected. Famous factories such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo placed orders with Northvolt and provided sufficient advance payments. Volkswagen even took out $1.6 billion from its own pocket to invest, firmly embarking on this path of not being choked;
-Everything seems to be going smoothly, the only problem is that Northvolt finds itself unable to make batteries;
-To be fair, Northvolt is not a scam. Its founding team came from Tesla's supply chain and has a deep understanding of batteries. However, building a battery manufacturing plant from scratch, there are few people in Europe who know what to do;
-Northvolt's confusing operation began from the factory site selection stage, driven by the pursuit of clean hydroelectric energy. It placed its local factory in Skellefte å, a small port town in the Arctic Circle, but the weather here is not dark in summer and not bright in winter, and the biological clocks of the relocated workers are disrupted. In the end, even Swedes are unwilling to come to work;
-In the end, only over 100 outsourced workers from China and South Korea were available. They lived in their own dormitories and were transported to the factory by bus every day to work. Due to language barriers, there was little communication. One time, an alarm sounded and European workers did not hear it. Chinese workers had to open their phones and use Google Translate to tell them what had happened;
-The outsourcing workers in China mainly come from a battery upstream equipment manufacturer in Wuxi. In order to meet the deadline, Northvolt denied the process of testing equipment in China and requested that all be completed in the Swedish factory. As a result, the integration became a disaster because from the grassroots employees and engineers to the managers and board of directors, none of them had production experience;
-The former employees of Northvolt interviewed believed that it was not the problem of Chinese partners, but that Northvolt was too incompetent. "We have no technology, no knowledge, everything needs to be taught by Chinese hands, machines are given by them, factories are built by them, and we can do nothing without them";
-As of December last year, Northvolt's battery production capacity had only reached 1/200 of its planned target. The previously confirmed purchase orders were cancelled one after another, and several banks that had previously strongly supported them also changed their faces. After the failure of debt financing last month, the CEO resigned;
-With the end of Biden's term, the policy of subsidizing the domestic battery industry in the West is expected to become obsolete. At least in the lithium battery market segment, there is no second Northvolt in Europe and North America. Two thirds of the world's lithium batteries are produced in China, and the average pricing is one-third of that of Western lithium battery manufacturers;
-The founder of CATL, Zeng Yuqun, was a guest on the Norwegian Sovereign Fund's podcast, where he contributed the catchphrase: "Why can't Europe make good batteries? Firstly, their design is wrong; secondly, their craftsmanship is wrong; and finally, their production is wrong
Interview with Robin Zeng, the CEO of CATL.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VIXjjw4u9A
The CEO Mr Zeng of CATL commented the failture of this EU's only hope:
“It's because they have the wrong design. And secondly, they have the wrong process. Thirdly, they have the wrong equipment How can they scale up?"
Here is key points of this failture of Northvolt, i translated into English.
The Information (www.theinformation.com) published an investigative report that thoroughly reviewed how Northvolt, the "only hope" of the European battery industry, suffered a complete failure.
-Before filing for bankruptcy protection last week, Northvolt had already raised a huge investment of $14 billion, and now only $30 million is left in cash on its books. A series of top investment institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Volkswagen, Siemens, etc., are facing the result of losing everything, which may be the most devastating investment failure event in the technology industry;
-It is not an exaggeration to say that Northvolt was born with a golden spoon in its mouth. In order to regain the dominant position in the new energy battery industry from China, from the founding country Sweden to the entire European Union, and even to Canada in North America, Northvolt has been granted special loans and land grants along the way, and subsidies have been given to everyone;
-But Northvolt's entry into the battery industry was "impure" from the beginning. Its advantage in positioning itself was neither technology nor price, but a politically correct commitment to produce only environmentally friendly energy sources such as hydropower and wind power. European car manufacturers, for reputation reasons, will lean towards suppliers with their own "redemption coupons";
-The initial development was indeed as expected. Famous factories such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo placed orders with Northvolt and provided sufficient advance payments. Volkswagen even took out $1.6 billion from its own pocket to invest, firmly embarking on this path of not being choked;
-Everything seems to be going smoothly, the only problem is that Northvolt finds itself unable to make batteries;
-To be fair, Northvolt is not a scam. Its founding team came from Tesla's supply chain and has a deep understanding of batteries. However, building a battery manufacturing plant from scratch, there are few people in Europe who know what to do;
-Northvolt's confusing operation began from the factory site selection stage, driven by the pursuit of clean hydroelectric energy. It placed its local factory in Skellefte å, a small port town in the Arctic Circle, but the weather here is not dark in summer and not bright in winter, and the biological clocks of the relocated workers are disrupted. In the end, even Swedes are unwilling to come to work;
-In the end, only over 100 outsourced workers from China and South Korea were available. They lived in their own dormitories and were transported to the factory by bus every day to work. Due to language barriers, there was little communication. One time, an alarm sounded and European workers did not hear it. Chinese workers had to open their phones and use Google Translate to tell them what had happened;
-The outsourcing workers in China mainly come from a battery upstream equipment manufacturer in Wuxi. In order to meet the deadline, Northvolt denied the process of testing equipment in China and requested that all be completed in the Swedish factory. As a result, the integration became a disaster because from the grassroots employees and engineers to the managers and board of directors, none of them had production experience;
-The former employees of Northvolt interviewed believed that it was not the problem of Chinese partners, but that Northvolt was too incompetent. "We have no technology, no knowledge, everything needs to be taught by Chinese hands, machines are given by them, factories are built by them, and we can do nothing without them";
-As of December last year, Northvolt's battery production capacity had only reached 1/200 of its planned target. The previously confirmed purchase orders were cancelled one after another, and several banks that had previously strongly supported them also changed their faces. After the failure of debt financing last month, the CEO resigned;
-With the end of Biden's term, the policy of subsidizing the domestic battery industry in the West is expected to become obsolete. At least in the lithium battery market segment, there is no second Northvolt in Europe and North America. Two thirds of the world's lithium batteries are produced in China, and the average pricing is one-third of that of Western lithium battery manufacturers;
-The founder of CATL, Zeng Yuqun, was a guest on the Norwegian Sovereign Fund's podcast, where he contributed the catchphrase: "Why can't Europe make good batteries? Firstly, their design is wrong; secondly, their craftsmanship is wrong; and finally, their production is wrong
The Electric: Northvolt’s Blunt Message to Fellow Battery Startups—Don’t Expect a Bailout
Struggling Battery Maker Northvolt Misses Payment to Laid Off Employees
Interview with Robin Zeng, the CEO of CATL.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VIXjjw4u9A
Last edited:
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