Volvo Cars owned by Geely Holding of China is partnering up with Swedish battery maker Northvolt in the development of batteries for both Volvo and Polestar. To find out the ins and outs of car batteries in relation to auto insurance, feel free to click on this link.
According to a recent article published by Input, as a first step, Volvo Car Group and Northvolt aim to set up a research and development center in Sweden, which will be commissioned in 2022. The center will build on the battery expertise of both companies and develop the next generation of state-of-the-art battery cells and car integration technologies, specially designed for use in Volvo and Polestar cars.
The first car to benefit from the new collaboration will reportedly be the electric version of the Volvo XC60.
Several Swedish companies including IKEA, Vestas, Volkswagen, Siemens, and Goldman Sachs have all invested in Northvolt which will produce the world’s greenest electric car battery. Volvo sees the partnership as the key to selling only clean electric cars by 2030. For Polestar, it gives a further boost to Europe’s growth ambitions and underlines the commitment to the Polestar 0 project, which aims to create a climate-neutral car by the end of 2030.
About the partnership, Henrik Green, technology manager at Volvo Cars says that the process of developing the next generation of battery cell technology internally together with Northvolt will give Volvo cars the opportunity to design batteries specifically for Volvo and Polestar owners.
The joint venture agreement will also include the establishment of a new gigabyte plant in Europe with a potential capacity of up to 50-gigawatt hours (GWh) per year. Production is scheduled to begin in 2026.
As part of the plans, Volvo Car Group also aims to purchase 15 GWh of battery cells per year from the existing Northvolt Ett battery plant in Skellefteå, Sweden.
