Volvo joins forces with Northvolt on European battery plant for electric cars

Volvo Car Group and Swedish battery maker Northvolt AB will jointly build a plant to produce batteries for electric cars as part of the European manufacturers’ latest move to localize battery production in the region.

The Chinese-owned automaker and Northvolt will build a 50 gigawatt-hour per year plant, enough to supply about 500,000 vehicles and complement Volvo’s plan to sell battery-powered cars by 2030. The companies will also create a joint venture. research and development center in Sweden.

“By working with Northvolt, we will ensure that we deliver high quality, more sustainable battery cells for our clean electric vehicles,” Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelson said in a statement. The research and development center will be operational next year and the plant is scheduled to go on line in 2026.

Volvo is suddenly leading Europe’s race to produce more electric cars. The company has set a goal of selling only electric cars by the end of the decade, and according to the nonprofit organization Transport & Environment, its roadmap for doing so is one of the most robust in the industry. Backed by its Chinese owner, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. , it has increased spending on electric vehicles and will introduce a new model every year in the first half of this decade.

Northvolt, founded by former executives of Tesla Inc. is leading a European effort to build a domestic lithium-ion battery supply chain currently dominated by suppliers from Asia. The manufacturer counts Volkswagen AG as a major shareholder and earlier this month announced it had raised $2.75 billion in its largest financing round to date.

Also recall that VOLVO PENTA, bought 60% of the Norwegian ZEM AS in order to get the Norwegians’ developments in the field of electrification of shipping.