Belgium Plant Will Supply Batteries for Volvo Trucks

Volvo Trucks will open its first battery-pack plant in Europe to serve the global market for its battery-electric vehicles.

The facility in Ghent, Belgium, will supply ready-to-install batteries for Volvo Trucks’ all-electric heavy-duty models.

Cells and modules from Samsung SDI will be assembled into battery packs that are tailor-made for the company’s electric-truck range, including Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX models. Series production is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year.

Each battery pack has a capacity of 90 kWh and customers can choose to have up to six battery packs, totaling 540 kWh, in a single truck. The number of batteries depends on individual range and load-capacity demands.

The batteries are designed so that they can later be remanufactured, refurbished and reused. The plant itself is to be powered by 100% renewable energy.

Volvo Trucks says it will offer a total of six electric models globally, covering vehicles from city distribution and refuse handling to regional transport and construction work.

Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks, says: “By 2030, at least 50% of all trucks we sell globally will be electric and by 2040, we will be a carbon-neutral company. We started series-production of electric trucks already in 2019 and are leading the market both in Europe and North America.

“With the rapid development of charging networks and improvements in battery technology, I am convinced that we will see a rapid transformation of the entire truck industry in the very near future.”