The shortage of battery cells from Northvolt could delay future launches of Audi and Porsche

The inability of the Swedish company Northvolt to supply its customers with the planned quantities of battery cells is beginning to pose a significant problem for some car manufacturers such as Porsche and Audi. According to German media reports, several brands of the Volkswagen Group may be forced to postpone the launch of new models due to the shortage of these cells.

Porsche is one of the manufacturers affected by this situation. Although the Stuttgart-based firm uses battery cells from other suppliers for its electric Taycan and Macan models, the company had bet exclusively on Northvolt as the cell supplier for the electric successor to the 718. A decision that, at Porsche’s management, they surely regret right now.

Given the sporty character of this two-seat electric model, Porsche had decided to equip it with high energy density, low-volume battery cells, so as to offer better performance. Northvolt promised that its cells met these requirements, but now it is unable to provide the German manufacturer with the necessary volume of them so that it can start production of the electric 718 at the end of 2025, as originally planned.

Audi will face this problem in a different way

The situation at Audi, on the other hand, is somewhat different. According to German media, unlike Porsche, which has officially shown its commitment to maintaining the contractual agreement with Northvolt, the Ingolstadt firm is evaluating whether its contract with the Swedish supplier has a future. Audi also depends on Northvolt to supply prismatic cells for its models based on the PPE platform, such as the Q6 e-tron and the A6 e-tron, but unlike Porsche, it plans to diversify its suppliers, including CATL and LG Energy Solution. Audi has also assured that, for now, there are no cell supply problems from Northvolt for its current models, although this situation could change in the future.

Additionally, and separately from the Volkswagen Group, we have also recently learned that BMW will cancel a multi-billion-dollar order with Northvolt due to delays. The Swedish battery cell manufacturer has decided to focus on resolving the production problems it faces, setting other projects aside, and this has caused Northvolt’s relationship with the Bavarian carmaker to cool down even further.

Finally, it is important to point out that, although Northvolt’s financial situation is certainly not good, it is not solely the result of the company failing to meet delivery deadlines due to production problems, but also of the lack of the financing expected from its main shareholders.