Scheduled to begin operations in 2025, the battery production facility is anticipated to produce up to 50GWh of battery cells per annum, which will be enough batteries to be used in approximately half a million cars per year
Volvo Cars and Northvolt to invest $3.3bn in a battery manufacturing plant in Torslanda, Gothenburg. (Credit: Volvo Car Group)
Volvo Cars and Swedish battery company Northvolt will invest nearly SEK30bn ($3.3bn) to construct a new battery manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Slated to begin operations in 2025, the facility is expected to produce up to 50GWh of battery cells per annum. This will be enough batteries to be used in nearly half a million cars per year.
The Gothenburg battery project in Torslanda is expected to provide up to 3,000 jobs.
A research and development (R&D) centre, which was announced by the two firms in December 2021, will complement the battery manufacturing plant. The R&D centre is aimed to become operational in 2022 and will generate a few hundred jobs in Gothenburg.
Expected to break ground next year, the plant will produce battery cells that are particularly developed to be used in next-generation pure electric Volvo and Polestar cars.
The facility will considerably strengthen the electrification strategy of Volvo Cars as it aims to manufacture and sell only fully electric cars by the end of this decade. It is part of the 50:50 battery development and production joint venture announced by Volvo Cars and Northvolt in June 2021.
Volvo Cars chief executive Håkan Samuelsson said: “Our battery cell partnership with Northvolt is key to our strategic ambitions in electrification.
“We are committed to becoming a leader in the premium electric car segment and selling only pure electric vehicles by 2030.”
The location of the battery manufacturing project is said to provide benefits by establishing a direct route into the largest car plant of Volvo Cars, access to infrastructure, and a pipeline of renewable energy supply.
The plant also has proximity to the respective R&D units of Volvo Cars and Northvolt.
Northvolt co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson said: “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.”