Lyten, a California battery startup, bought the core assets of collapsed Swedish EV battery maker Northvolt to fast-track its manufacturing ambitions. (Semafor)
The deal: Lyten took over Northvolt’s Swedish gigafactory, Polish grid battery plant, German factory plans, and IP, but not its debt.
The plan: Restart lithium-ion production, then pivot to lighter lithium-sulfur batteries that use 85% fewer minerals and bypass China-centric supply chains.
The risk: Northvolt’s quick collapse underscored how hard it is to scale EV battery production in a China-dominated market. As one analyst warned, “The technical and operational challenges that brought down Northvolt haven’t magically disappeared.”