The US Department of Energy has awarded US$208m to Volvo Group to accelerate the production of heavy-duty electric trucks and related powertrain components. This funding aims to benefit Volvo Group’s Lehigh Valley Operations truck assembly site in Macungie, Pennsylvania, where Mack trucks are produced, and its New River Valley truck plant in Dublin, Virginia, the largest of Volvo’s manufacturing facilities worldwide.
According to Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey, the upgrades will enable mixed-model assembly, providing scalability and flexibility in production. The improvements are expected to significantly boost the production capacity of battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).
The project aims to convert these facilities to zero-emission sites. As part of this initiative, the Hagerstown, Maryland, plant will also receive upgrades to support powertrain operations.
Stephen Roy, chairman of Volvo Group North America and president of Mack Trucks, said, “Through facility upgrades and employee training, this grant will help our US plants more efficiently produce the innovative trucks and zero-emission powertrain components essential to this transition.”
The funding, part of the Domestic Manufacturing Conversion grant program, aims to create 295 new union jobs for Volvo and Mack. The US$2bn program, available until September 30, 2031, supports the domestic production of hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
In addition to Volvo, the Department of Energy awarded nearly US$158m to ZF Axle Drives Marysville to help convert part of the company’s Marysville, Michigan, facility from producing internal combustion engine driveline components to EV components.
“The upgrades enable a novel manufacturing approach that will significantly increase the production capacity potential of battery-electric vehicles (BEV)/fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV),” a project summary said, noting how the changes will help improve BEV and FCEV production processes.