Northvolt acquires US battery technology company Cuberg
European supplier of sustainable, high-quality battery cells and systems, Northvolt, announced on March 10 the acquisition of US-based battery technology company Cuberg delivering high-performance lithium metal cells produced on existing lithium-ion manufacturing lines for electromobility solutions.
According to Northvolt, Cuberg spun out of Stanford University in 2015 with the goal of commercializing next-generation battery technology based on a groundbreaking liquid electrolyte combined with a lithium metal anode. Cuberg counts numerous innovative mobility companies among its customers, including Boeing, BETA Technologies, Ampaire and VoltAero. The company’s investors and financial backers include Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Activate.org, the California Energy Commission, the US Department of Energy, and the TomKat Center at Stanford.
Among Northvolt industrial partners and customers are ABB, BMW Group, Scania, Siemens, Vattenfall, Vestas and the Volkswagen Group.
“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,” Northvolt CEO and Co-Founder Peter Carlsson said. “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,” he added.
For his part, Cuberg CEO and Co-Founder Richard Wang hailed the partnership with Northvolt to build the future of clean energy. “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,” he said.
Cuberg’s batteries, based on its breakthrough electrolyte technology for lithium metal anode, are optimally designed for commercialization. Validated by trusted third parties the cells deliver more than 70 percent increased range and capacity versus comparable lithium-ion cells designed for high-rate electric aviation applications. Building on this foundation, Northvolt and Cuberg will mature its automotive and industrial product portfolio with the ambition to industrialize cells in 2025 that exceed 1,000 Wh/L, while meeting the full spectrum of automotive customer requirements.
Critically, Cuberg’s technology addresses the biggest challenge with emerging battery technologies, which is effective manufacturing scale-up, Northvolt said. Stockholm-based Cuberg has already demonstrated compatibility of its technology with the existing lithium-ion manufacturing ecosystem, which minimizes time to market and enables rapid commercial deployment in the electromobility market. The new technology will be deployed at scale in electromobility markets within three years, beginning with electric aviation.
Northvolt will establish an advanced technology center in Silicon Valley based on the Cuberg acquisition and is actively hiring top battery industry talent to support these efforts. In addition to accelerating the lithium metal cell development and optimizing the technology for automotive applications, the new center will focus on materials research and development for best-in-class lithium-ion anode and electrolyte technologies. The center will enable Northvolt to engage and partner with the leading technology companies and universities in Silicon Valley, with the aim to bridge ongoing research efforts between Europe and North America. It will also serve as a testbed for methodologies leveraging digitalization, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
