Volvo CE commissions new facilities for electric mobility
As announced last year, the company has invested 80 million Swedish kronor (around 7 million euros) in a new battery pack production facility in Changwon, South Korea. At the Swedish plant in Braås, it invested 360 million Swedish kronor (around 31.3 million euros) in the expansion of production facilities to accelerate the gradual switch to electromobility for articulated dump trucks.
The 23-tonne Volvo EC230 electric excavator, for example, which will go into series production in August, will benefit from the new battery pack production facility in Changwon. The latter is Volvo CE’s largest excavator plant and produces around 55 per cent of the company’s excavators. According to Volvo CE, “with this investment, it will become a core competence centre for electric excavators” for the company. Moreover, Changwon is also close to battery module and other important suppliers in South Korea.
“Our new battery facility in Changwon will produce a range of battery pack solutions for the Volvo Group. In April 2022, we established a mass production line for electric excavators and with the completion of the new battery pack production facility, we can now produce them in-house, from batteries to finished products, saving time and logistics costs,” explains Andrew Knight, Head of Excavator Industrial Strategy and Managing Director of Volvo Group Korea. The new 2,500 square metre facility, which was built within the plant, also includes assembly and logistics areas.
In Braås, the investment, which was also announced last year, was used to expand the production facilities at the plant, which specialises in the manufacture of articulated dump trucks. It will enable the plant to fit construction machines with different types of drive, which is in line with the company’s shift towards more sustainable energy solutions. Volvo emphasises that the plant has always been a sustainable pioneer, producing the world’s first articulated hauler made from fossil-free steel.
Volvo CE emphasises that it wants to invest in its facilities to reduce their environmental impact. It wants to halve emissions from its operations, facilities and manufacturing processes by 2030. Braås was the first plant in the construction industry to achieve carbon-neutral operations using only renewable energy, the manufacturer writes. It will also complete the installation of solar panels in Changwon by the end of August this year
“The investment in our facilities is an important part of our strategy to drive the transformation towards more sustainable solutions and to help us meet our Science Based Target commitments,” says Kamel Sid, Head of Operations at Volvo CE. “We have an ambition to be fossil-free and for 35% of our machine sales to be electric by 2030, so investing in our facilities is another important step on our electrification roadmap.”
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