Volvo Cars and Northvolt will be constructing a battery manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2023.
(Photo : Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Volvo Cars and Northvolt announced on Friday, February 4, that they would start construction of a battery manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2023, as reported by CNBC. The two companies said that the factory is set to "have a potential annual cell production capacity of up to 50-gigawatt hours," which would equate to supplying enough batteries for around 500,000 vehicles every year.
The Gothenburg Gigafactory will dovetail with Volvo Cars and Northvolt's planned research and development center that they announced back in December 2021 as part of their roughly 30 billion Swedish krona, or $3.29 billion investment. Tesla CEO Elon Musk coined the term "gigafactories" for facilities that produce batteries for electric cars on a large scale.
Volvo Cars and Northvolt issued a joint statement on their websites regarding the planned Gothenburg facility, saying, "The battery cell production joint venture between Northvolt and Volvo Cars will be a significant player in European battery cell production and will represent one of the largest cell production units in Europe."
Volvo Cars, Northvolt to build "gigafactory" near R&D Center
Volvo Cars and Northvolt first announced plans to develop a battery plant back in December 2021, but no confirmation was made regarding the specific location of that facility during that time. Volvo Cars and Northvolt decided to build the facility near its R&D Center in Gothenburg, which is due to start operations later this year.
Their battery factory is scheduled to start production in 2025. The two companies appointed former Tesla executive Adrian Clarke to lead their battery cell production unit. Volvo Cars and Northvolt decided to partner with each other after the automaker announced plans back in March 2021 to become a fully electric car company by 2030.
Northvolt started operating in 2016 and has since attracted massive investment from big companies such as Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen. The Stockholm-headquartered company aims to generate 150 GWh of cell output per year by 2030.
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Northvolt and Volvo Cars to build gigafactories in Asia and America?
Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson and Volvo Cars' head of engineering and operations, Javier Varela, took part in a question and answer session after the gigafactory was announced and were asked about a possible expansion of their joint venture to other parts of the world such as America and Asia, according to Just-Auto.com.
Varela said that it was a step-by-step process and that their main focus right now is in Europe. He did not rule out such a move, though, saying they will discuss such plans in the future and how that will help secure capacity in other areas.
Carlsson added that it is pretty clear right now that the electrification platforms are really becoming global, and the rollout of product portfolios is also becoming global. Carlson said that with batteries being tough to ship because of their size and their hazardous goods requirements, it would be wise for companies in the future to regionalize the supply chain.
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