‘Incendiary devices’ found at Que. site for EV battery plant

A company building a major factory for electric vehicle batteries in Quebec says incendiary devices were found Monday morning at its construction site east of Montreal, in what is the latest act of alleged vandalism against the project.

The devices consisted of bottles filled with flammable liquid with a “rudimentary” ignition system, said Paolo Cerruti, cofounder of Swedish manufacturer Northvolt. Cerruti, who is also CEO of Northvolt North America, told reporters the ignition system “allowed for a certain delay” before the bottles were supposed to catch fire.

Northvolt initially called the devices “homemade bombs” in a statement, but Cerruti later referred to them as “incendiary devices.”

Cerruti said multiple bottles were placed under the tires of “certain elements of equipment” at the site. Chantal Graveline with the Richelieu-Saint-Laurent police force confirmed that officers had discovered incendiary devices beneath a vehicle and that an investigation is underway.

Monday’s discovery is the latest act of alleged vandalism at the future site of Northvolt’s $7-billion factory for electric vehicle batteries about 30 kilometres east of Montreal. The 170-hectare site is scheduled to open by the end of 2026. It is expected to have an initial capacity to produce about 30 gigawatthours of cell manufacturing a year, enough to power one million vehicles.

Cerruti said the site was being considered a crime scene and that the company was waiting for approval from police to reopen.

Since it was announced in September, the project has faced opposition from environmental groups and the Mohawk community, who say the plant is being built on environmentally sensitive land without a proper review.

In late February, police opened an investigation after spiked mats were laid at the site. A vehicle was also damaged. In January, nails or metal bars were inserted into about 100 trees.