Volvo to make battery modules in Ghent
Manufacturing line will use battery cells from partners and a planned battery cell plant in Sweden
Volvo to produce battery modules in Ghent
Volvo Group has announced that in two years time, its truck plant in Ghent, Belgium will start to produce battery modules. To date, partners supply both cells and modules to the Group. The investment decision to install battery module manufacturing capacity in Ghent is a step for the Volvo Group to shape its future value chain for battery systems. The battery module manufacturing line in Ghent will be able to use battery cells both from partners and from the planned battery cell plant in Sweden.
“We have started the investment process to establish battery module manufacturing in Ghent. The building is expected to be 12,000 m2 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 competences will be recruited, both externally and by building on our internal competences,” says Jens Holtinger, executive VP Group Trucks Operations. The investment frame for this first step of module manufacturing is€75 million.
The Volvo Group truck assembly plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, is already building heavy-duty electric trucks. In the second half of 2023 the plant in Ghent will also start to produce battery electric heavy-duty trucks. The battery packs needed to power these electric trucks are built in the Ghent plant. Volvo Group’s ambition is that at least 35 percent of the vehicles sold worldwide will be electric by 2030.
