Northvolt’s battery factory in the north of Sweden in June.
Northvolt
Northvolt, a Swedish battery maker, has raised $2.75 billion from a host of big names to help fuel its global expansion and increase production.
The Stockholm-headquartered company makes the lithium-ion batteries that are used to power electric cars and it says it has signed deals worth $27 billion with the likes of BMW and VW. It is aiming to produce “the world’s greenest batteries” by drawing on renewable energy sources and recycled raw materials.
The latest funding round, Northvolt’s largest yet, was co-led by Goldman Sachs and VW alongside new investors including Swedish pension funds AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4 and Canadian pension provider OMERS. Previous investors such as Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and investment management firm Baillie Gifford are also investing in the round.
Total investment in the company now stands at $6.5 billion. The latest round of funding values Northvolt at $11.75 billion, according to a person familiar with the company who asked to remain anonymous as Northvolt has not publicly disclosed the figure.
Founded in 2016, Northvolt said it will use the funding to expand capacity at its factory in the far north of Sweden from 40 gigawatt-hours to 60 gigawatt-hours, which is enough to supply batteries for around 1 million electric vehicles. Production is expected to start at the factory later this year.
Peter Carlsson, co-founder and CEO of Northvolt, told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday that the company is doing “fairly significant shipments” from a smaller facility that has been in operation for over a year to customers who are now doing their own “validations.”
While none of the company’s batteries are in electric vehicles that are on the road today, they’re being used on test tracks, Carlsson said, adding that he expects Northvolt’s batteries to be delivered in vehicles from 2023 and in energy storage applications from the end of next year.
“With this investment, we are strengthening our strategic partnership with Northvolt as a supplier of sustainable battery cells which are produced using renewable energy and are comprehensively recyclable,” said Arno Antlitz, VW’s group board member for finance and IT, in a statement.
Northvolt’s batteries are built on a “different chemistry” to Tesla’s and the performance is becoming increasingly similar, said Carlsson, who was Tesla’s vice president of supply chain in Palo Alto between 2011 and 2015.
Making the batteries in a sustainable manner is one of Northvolt’s biggest challenges, he added. If the world transitions to electric vehicles with batteries from coal-based economies like China then it would create a new carbon footprint the size of Spain, Carlsson said. “If we do it based on renewable energy … we can prevent this from happening,” he said.
The company’s main plant is in Sweden and it is considering building a second in Germany if it can find enough renewable energy sources.
By 2030, it wants to achieve 150 gigawatt hours of deployed annual production capacity in Europe.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twitter Inc. and Square Inc., listens during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, on Friday, June 4, 2021.
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Block shares jumped in extended trading on Thursday after the fintech company increased its forecast for the year.
Here is how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG.
Earnings per share: 62cents adjusted vs. 69 cents expected
Block doesn’t report a revenue figure, but said gross profit rose 14% from a year earlier to $2.54 billion, beatinganalysts’ estimates of $2.46 billion for the quarter. Gross payment volume increased 10% to $64.25 billion.
Block raised its guidance for full-year gross profit to $10.17 billion, representing 14% growth from a year earlier. In its prior earnings report, Block said gross profit for the year would come in at $9.96 billion.
The company expects full-year adjusted operating income of $2.03 billion, or a 20% margin. For the third quarter, the company expects gross profit to grow 16% from a year ago to $2.6 billion, with an operating margin of 18%.
Square payment volume in the quarter grew 10% from a year earlier.
Block faces growing competition from rivals such as Toast and Fiserv‘s Clover, though its Square business still gained share during the quarter in areas such as retail and food and beverage.
Block shares were down 10% this year as of Thursday’s close, while the Nasdaq is up 10%. Last month, Block was added to the S&P 500.
Until GM builds its own, the new Chevy Bolt EV will use lower-cost LFP batteries from China’s CATL. GM will temporarily lean on CATL to power its most affordable electric vehicle.
The new Chevy Bolt EV will use batteries from China
The new Chevy Bolt EV is set to begin rolling off the production line at GM’s assembly plant in Fairfax, Kansas, later this year.
GM’s CEO Mary Barra promises the new EV will arrive with “substantial improvements,” including longer range, faster charging, and a stylish new look. It will also be the company’s first EV based on the Ultium platform to launch with LFP batteries in North America.
Although the batteries were initially expected to be made in-house, it appears that GM will import them from China, at least for the next few years.
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A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims GM will import LFP batteries from CATL to power the new Chevy Bolt EV over the next two years.
According to sources close to the matter, GM will rely on CATL for batteries until it begins producing more affordable EV batteries in collaboration with LG Energy Solutions in 2027.
2022 Chevy Bolt EUV (Source: GM)
“To stay competitive, GM will temporarily source these packs from similar suppliers to power our most affordable EV model,” a company spokesperson said. The statement added that “For several years, other US automakers have depended on foreign suppliers for LFP battery sourcing and licensing.”
Ford is licensing technology from CATL to produce LFP batteries in Michigan, which will power its next-generation electric vehicles.
GM plans to build a “next-gen affordable EV) in Kansas (Source: GM)
Given Trump’s new tariff and trade policies, GM will face hefty import costs from China. According to Sam Abuelsamid from auto research firm Telemetry, combined with other cost-cutting measures, “the new Bolt with Chinese batteries may still be marginally profitable or “close enough.” He added that “It may be that the economics work for GM to do this on a temporary basis.”
Just over a week ago, Chevy offered a sneak peek at the new Bolt EV with the first teaser images. It’s scheduled to enter production later this year and will arrive at US dealerships in 2026.
Although GM has yet to announce prices and specs, the new Bolt EV is expected to start at around $30,000 with a range of around 300 miles. It will also be the second GM electric vehicle, following the Cadillac Optiq-V, with a built-in NACS port for charging at Tesla Superchargers.
Electrek’s Take
Chinese battery makers, including CATL and BYD, are dominating the global market with lower-cost and more advanced tech.
According to new data from SNE Research, CATL and BYD widened their lead in the first half of 2025. CATL held the top spot with a 37.9% market share while BYD was second at 17.8%.
The combined market share of South Korean battery makers, LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI, fell to 16.4%, a 5.4% decline from the first half of 2024.
Although the deal may work out in GM’s favor, it still highlights the significant gap between US auto and battery makers and their Chinese counterparts.
Meanwhile, GM’s current most affordable electric model, the Chevy Equinox EV, is expected to be among the top three best-selling EVs in the US this year, behind the Tesla Model Y and Model 3. GM calls it “America’s most affordable 315+ range EV” with starting prices under $35,000.
Will the new Bolt EV see the same demand? With prices expected to start at around $30,000, it will be one of the lowest-priced electric vehicles in the US.
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Despite a full lineup of electric models rolling out, Cadillac now plans to keep offering at least one popular gas-powered SUV.
Cadillac XT5 SUV will keep a gas engine in the US
GM’s luxury brand was supposed to go all-electric by the end of the decade. Although it already walked back its commitment last year, Cadillac has now confirmed which popular gas SUV will stick around a while longer.
The Cadillac XT5, the brand’s best-selling vehicle outside of the Escalade, will continue to be sold in North America.
The news was first reported by The Detroit Free Press, which cited a recent memo from GM to UAW workers. Although Cadillac had planned to end XT5 production at the end of the year, GM informed workers that it will continue to be built until the end of 2026.
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The current Cadillac XT5 will continue to be sold until the 2027 model year arrives in the US, which will still feature a gas engine.
Cadillac Optiq EV (Source: Cadillac)
It could arrive as a potential hybrid, similar to the XT5 sold in China, which features a 2.0L turbocharged engine combined with a 48V electric motor. No fully electric version was mentioned.
GM will continue Cadillac XT5 production in Spring Hill, Tennessee, alongside the Lyriq and Vistiq electric SUVs.
2026 Cadillac Vistiq electric SUV (Source: GM)
Cadillac claims to be the leading luxury EV brand in the US with a full lineup of electric SUVs. However, that doesn’t include Tesla. The luxury brand now offers the entry-level Optiq, mid-size Lyriq, three-row Vistiq, and even larger Escalade IQ and IQL electric models.
In the first half of the year, nearly 25% of Cadillac vehicles sold in the US were electric. The XT5 was Cadillac’s second-best-selling vehicle, with over 12,700 units sold. The Escalade was its top seller with over 24,300 models sold through June.
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