He is now in place at the research facility in Västerås, one of the operations that previously belonged to Northvolt but which the American Lyten has now taken over after its predecessor's high-profile bankruptcy.
Lyten's previous plan was to start delivering battery cells "in the second half of 2026." That plan must now be revised.
"The production of the batteries is going well, we are manufacturing them in Skellefteå today and what we are waiting for is basically to get them requalified. That has to be done when the production line has been running for a while, so that is why we are now saying early next year," says Herlitz, who in addition to being a co-founder is also chairman of Lyten.
200 employees
The company currently employs around 200 people, but the ambition remains that this number will grow to 600 next year. The company has now started manufacturing the type of lithium batteries in Västerås that it has previously produced at its facility in the US.
Unlike Northvolt, which focused strongly on the automotive industry, Lars Herlitz sees a completely different situation for Lyten:
We don't need that industry in the short term at all, but we see an interest and they are talking to us. It will also change again, electric vehicles are the future and everyone sees it, he believes.
Instead, he points out that the defense industry, for example, will become an important future customer, where Lyten also has a trump card against Chinese competitors.
The defense industry does not want to be dependent on China at all.
Learned from Northvolt
One thing is clear, Northvolt's mistakes are not going to be repeated:
–We want to grow quickly, but we don't want to take risks. We don't believe in taking on huge debts, so we have no debts at all. Of course you can do it, but it's very risky.
