Vehicle OEM Volvo has announced plans to produce battery modules at its truck plant in Ghent, Belgium.
Until now, partners of the OEM have supplied cells and modules to Volvo. However, following a proposed first-stage investment of €75m (U$75.2m) the company will install battery module manufacturing capacity at the site to bolster its future value chain for battery systems.
The planned battery module manufacturing line in Ghent will use battery cells from partners and also from the OEM’s other planned battery cell plant in Sweden.
“We have started the investment process to establish battery module manufacturing in Ghent,” said Jens Holtinger, executive vice president of Volvo’s trucks operations. “The building is expected to be 12,000m2 and be located at the Volvo Group manufacturing site. The new high-tech module factory will consist of an almost fully automated process with robots. This means that employees with the necessary competencies will be recruited, both externally and by building on our internal competencies.”
Volvo’s truck assembly plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, has already begun producing heavy-duty electric trucks. In the second half of 2023, Volvo plans to begin manufacturing the same electric vehicles at the Ghent facility, with the battery packs being built at the same location. By 2030, Volvo plans that a minimum of 35% of its vehicles sold worldwide will be electric.