Volvo Group announces large-scale battery factory in Sweden to support electric truck production

The Volvo Group announces that it has started working on having a large-scale battery factory in Sweden to support its expansion of electric trucks, electric buses, and electric construction equipment production.

The Volvo Group is not to be confused with Volvo Cars, which has been owned by China’s Geely for over a decade now.

The group is independent, and it produces trucks, buses, and construction equipment.

Over the last few years, it has emerged as a leader in the electrification of those segments with products like the VNR Electric truck, the Volvo FL Electric, the Volvo 7900 Electric Articulated bus, and even electric construction equipment like its ECR25 Electric compact excavator.

Now the company aims to deliver these products in large volumes, but it is going to need a lot of batteries to do that since those are all heavy-duty vehicles and machinery.

Today, The Volvo Group announced a new battery factory coming to Sweden:

To meet the growing demand for battery electric heavy-duty vehicles and machines, the Volvo Group has initiated the process to establish a large-scale production plant for battery cells in Sweden.

Martin Lundstedt, president and CEO of the Volvo Group, commented on the announcement:

We aim to lead the transition to a decarbonized transport system and have the long-term ambition to offer our customers solutions that are 100% fossil free. There is a strong demand from our customers already today, and by 2030, it is our ambition that at least 35% of the products we sell are electric. This ramp-up will require large volumes of high-performing batteries, produced using fossil free energy and it is a logical next step for us to include battery production in our future industrial footprint. We aim to do this together with partners and the journey starts now.

The site of the factory is dependent on permitting and public consultation, but Volvo group is currently evaluating a site in Mariestad in the Skaraborg region in Sweden.

The company aims to achieve large-scale production by 2030 with cells specifically designed for its commercial vehicles:

The Volvo Group plans to gradually increase capacity and reach large-scale series production by 2030. The battery cells will be designed specifically for commercial vehicle applications, supporting the global roll-out of electric trucks, buses, construction equipment and electric drivelines for different applications.

Volvo didn’t reveal the planned output in gigawatt-hour of the new factory.