Polestar and Volvo models will receive batteries from factory powered by fossil-fuel-free energy starting in 2025.
Volvo
- Volvo and battery specialist Northvolt will build a gigafactory in Gothenburg, Sweden, to supply batteries for Polestar and Volvo models.
- The gigafactory is slated to open in 2025 and will be designed to produce enough batteries for about 500,000 vehicles annually.
- The new gigafactory in Gothenburg will rely on fossil-fuel-free energy in its operations, with Volvo also making a commitment for all of its plants to be climate-neutral by 2025.
Volvo and battery specialist Northvolt AB are set to build a new battery plant and research facility in Volvo’s home city of Gothenburg, Sweden, for use in Volvo and Polestar vehicles. Construction of the facility will commence in 2023 with the aim to open in 2025, by which time the automaker expects half of its sales of new vehicles to be battery-electric. The plant will be built with a potential annual cell production capacity of up to 50 gigawatt hours (GWh), which would provide enough batteries for approximately 500,000 vehicles a year.
What’s more, Volvo and Northvolt intend the plant to be powered by fossil-free energy, amid Volvo’s plans for all of its production facilities to become climate-neutral in the near future.
“Our new battery plant will support our ambition to have a fully climate-neutral manufacturing network and secure a supply of high-quality batteries for years to come,” said Javier Varela, head of engineering and operations at Volvo Cars. “Through our partnership with Northvolt, we will also benefit greatly from an end-to-end battery value chain, from raw material to complete car, ensuring optimal integration in our cars.”
The chosen location will offer not only a convenient point for the supply of renewable energy, but also a direct route to Volvo’s own production facilities in Gothenburg.
Northvolt, for its part, is also working with Volkswagen on yet another gigafactory, this time in Skellefteå in northern Sweden, which is expected to open in 2023. The German automaker owns a 20% stake in Northvolt.
The gigafactory will be engineered to produce enough battery packs for about 500,000 vehicles annually, ahead of Volvo’s shift to an all-EV lineup.
Volvo
“Our battery cell partnership with Northvolt is key to our strategic ambitions in electrification,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars chief executive. “We are committed to becoming a leader in the premium electric car segment and selling only pure electric vehicles by 2030.”
Volvo’s plans to rely on fossil-free energy at the plant reflects increasing efforts by a number of automakers to establish climate-neutral, if not climate-positive, operations at their assembly plants, realizing that electric cars and their batteries by themselves would not be entirely “green” if they were produced in outdated and energy-inefficient facilities.
Last year Volvo achieved climate-neutral status at its oldest working facility in Torslanda, Sweden, which opened in 1964, ahead of plans for all of its facilities to be climate neutral by the middle of the decade. In Torslanda’s case, Volvo didn’t have to create a new plant from scratch, but embarked on a major update of its existing facility by reducing energy use and finding ways to use excess energy more efficiently. The automaker indicated the plant achieved this status when it was determined that there was no net increase in the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from the electricity and heating used by the factory.
“Establishing this gigafactory in Gothenburg is a decisive move, both to continue to transform one of the most dynamic automotive regions in the world, and to become the leading global supplier of sustainable batteries,” said Peter Carlsson, co-founder and CEO of Northvolt.
Keyword: Volvo and Northvolt to Build Gigafactory in Sweden