Date: Apr 08, 2019
Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson wants to build Europe’s largest battery cell plant – in the middle of the Swedish countryside. In an interview with EURACTIV’s partner WirtschaftsWoche, he explained how this should work and gave his thoughts on his new partner Volkswagen’s electromobility offensive.
Mr Carlsson, you were manager at Tesla for over four years. What is the more ambitious goal: making electromobility for the masses or building Europe’s largest battery plant?
I think both will face many challenges. During my time at Tesla, I learnt a lot on how to address complex issues. That is why I am very optimistic about our goal.
How do you address complex issues at Tesla and Northvolt?
First, you will adapt goals to very structured projects. You will also need the best workforce. For that, it is insufficient to be content with the local job market. We need to ask ourselves how we can get the best people from around the world?
Could you elaborate on this more concretely?
We found a lot of talent in Japan, Korea and China. When it comes to professional background, it is important to check European medical and chemical industries for instance. And our automation and software teams unite people who have already worked for companies such as ABB, Siemens, Google, Spotify and Ebay.
