Volvo trucks press on with electric vehicles plan

Volvo trucks announced details of its new battery assembly plant in Ghent, Belgium last week as the company continues to make encouraging headway in its drive to electrify its truck transportation. The Ghent plant is the first of its kind that the company has launched in Belgium which Volvo hope is an important staging post on their journey towards becoming a carbon-neutral complany by 2040. Commenting on the opening of the Ghent plant, Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks, said “This investment shows our strong commitment to electrifying truck transportation. By 2030, at least 50 percent of all trucks we sell globally will be electric, and by 2040, we will be a carbon-neutral company.” The new plant will see cells and modules from Samsung SDI assembled into battery packs that are tailor-made for Volvo Trucks´ heavy-duty electric trucks such as the Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX. Volvo are confident that series production will begin in the third quarter of this year. Volvo revealed that each battery pack will have a capacity of 90 kilowatt-hours, and customers can choose to have up to six battery packs in a truck. The number of battery packs on the trucks will then depend on each customer’s specific range and load capacity demands. “By integrating the battery assembly process in our production flow, we can shorten lead times for our customers and secure high-performing batteries, while at the same time increase circularity,” proudly declared Alm.