Volvo to build its own gigafactory in Sweden

Volvo is furthering steps in its electrification strategy and will open a new research and development centre in Gothenburg, Sweden, next year.

The move is one of a growing trend as manufacturers realise the need for owning the complete battery construction process and includes further plans to open a gigafactory (battery factory) in Sweden later this decade.

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The new centre will be operated in conjunction with its partner Northvolt, and is part of Volvo’s greater $4.6 billion electrification strategy to build more EVs. Volvo’s plans are to make at least 50 per cent of its sales electric by 2025 before removing traditional combustion power from its line-up by 2030.

Before then, Volvo will utilise battery production from Northvolt’s existing site in Sweden which will provide 15GWh of cells from 2024 ahead of the opening of a large gigafactory.

The partnership with Volvo will help it meet emissions targets as the maker says Northvolt's "sustainable battery production" methods reduce the environmental impact of EV production.

Like with Volkswagen’s latest new partnerships - including with an Australian company that sources ‘clean’ lithium-ion - Volvo is focusing on ramping up battery production and will build a new battery factory in 2023.

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The Swedish carmaker is planning for a production capacity of 50GWh per annum in that factory alone and they will be used in the next generation of pure-electric Volvo and Polestar cars such as the next-generation XC60 and XC90, which will include fully-electric versions.

It is expected that the new research and development centre in Gothenburg will create hundreds of new jobs and Volvo says it will be "one of the few automotive brands to make battery cell development and production part of its end-to-end engineering capabilities".

Other manufacturers to go into end-to-end battery solutions include Volkswagen with its gigafactory in Germany, and BMW, which also has an agreement with Northvolt.