Dan Cook, CEO of Lyten. He is convinced they will succeed in getting Northvolt’s former operations back on their feet – and then develop them further.
There are many questions about how Lyten plans to run the battery factory in Skellefteå.
On August 14, Sveriges Radio reported that the factory could have a military focus. The same day, SVT claimed that batteries from the site could be delivered to the US military.
Several other media outlets presented a similar picture, but perhaps the wildest was Proletären, which, in both a news report and an opinion piece, pushed the theory that the factory could end up supplying equipment for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Lyten’s technology is based on lithium-sulfur batteries, which have high performance and are lighter than other battery types. This makes them suitable for drones and other equipment where weight is a major factor. Norran asked battery researcher Patrik Johansson, a professor at Uppsala University, about the technology:
– There have so far been challenges with lifespan because sulfur electrodes generally do not allow for many recharges. That is why those who work with lithium-sulfur batteries have focused on more niche markets, such as military drones. They don't need many cycles because the drones might get shot down anyway.
In other words, the technology isn’t yet mature for the automotive sector, and Lyten needs to take the customers it can get. However, the company’s CEO hopes the batteries will work for vehicles within a few years.
Lyten’s investors include companies that also invest in the defence industry, such as Stellantis and Honeywell. But in total, there are said to be about 800 investors behind the company.Therefore, using a few isolated examples to claim that Lyten has a military agenda is misleading.
In this context, it is interesting that Lyten's chief sustainability officer, Keith Norman, argued in a Fortune article (250718) that the US government should invest in American battery production as a military-strategic measure. While the text can be interpreted as Lyten being open to selling to the US military, Norman's primary argument is that production should happen in the US - not abroad.
Andreas Westerberg is political editor of Norran.
The purchase of the factory in Skellefteå is therefore not part of a strategy to strengthen the US military. This conclusion is reinforced by Swedish legislation on defence materials. A license is required for everything from production and handling to sales and export. This means Lyten cannot know in advance if it will be allowed to sell to any country's military from the factory in Skellefteå.
To succeed with the Skellefteå factory, Lyten must first get production of automotive batteries up and running - the same type that Northvolt already manufactured. Eventually, Lyten wants to transition to its new technology, but for it to be profitable, the batteries need to work for more purposes than military drones.
The factory in Skellefteå needs to sell its products to many different customers to achieve sufficient volume. If military clients become a reality, it is most likely that they would be the Swedish or European military.
And fundamentally, isn't that desirable? Because we surely agree with Lyten's chief sustainability officer Keith Norman that the military cannot make itself dependent on China every time it needs a battery?