Simon Moores, chief executive of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, says the concept of relying on recycled materials was a “big win” for European car brands against Chinese batteries.

“The need to be green was paramount to the entire concept of electric cars and gigafactories in Europe,” he says.

But the key barrier is that “making sustainable, quality lithium-ion batteries is hard”.

As proof of this he claims it took “Tesla and Panasonic the best part of a decade” to get their shared battery facility in Nevada functioning properly.

Recent setbacks at Northvolt’s site in Sweden have led to some of its biggest customers not receiving batteries on time. 

Scania, the Volkswagen-owned truck maker, was forced to slow the roll-out of its fleet of electric HGVs amid delays to expected deliveries of Northvolt batteries.

Northvolt subsequently sought to ease concerns by claiming in June that it was producing 16,000 cells per week.

However other customers appear to have run out of patience.

Earlier this month BMW reportedly pulled out of a €2bn (£1.69bn) contract for Northvolt batteries after it fell behind schedule.

The deal represents less than 5pc of the company’s order book.

In a statement Northvolt and BMW said the companies had “jointly decided to focus Northvolt’s activities on the ambition of developing the next generation of battery cells”.

Industry sources say the company’s production woes are well-known in the sector.

“It isn’t a huge surprise,” a source says.

“They’ve obviously done incredibly well at raising capital, but we have known for a while Northvolt has had issues scaling.”

A key challenge for battery companies is getting their production lines optimised so the cells they produce have minimal defects.

James Frith, European head at Volta Technologies, says: “It is clear that the company has faced problems producing high-quality cells at acceptable yields.”

The delays “may well slow down some of the company’s aggressive expansion plans to refocus on the basics,” says Andy Leyland, co-founder of supply chain analysts SC Insights. 

“Production at Northvolt Ett has improved significantly,” a spokesman said, “and production rate has increased from thousands of cells per week to tens of thousands.”

It is not just in Sweden where Northvolt has faced hurdles.

In Canada, where the company is planning a 30GW battery plant near Quebec, local eco-activists have targeted the company despite its green credentials.

In January vandals buried nails in trees that the company planned to fell, creating a risk to workers trying to clear them.

In May incendiary devices were also found hidden on the construction site.

More broadly Northvolt must contend with the wider shocks to the electric vehicle sector, which is grappling with a slowdown in demand in Europe and a flood of new competitors from China.