Volvo is doubling-down on its commitment to an all-electric future with news of yet another investment into its electric vehicle pursuit, this time in the form of a 10 billion SEK (about AU$1.5 billion) investment for its Torslanda plant.
Volvo says that the investment will be channelled toward its Torslanda manufacturing plant in its home of Sweden, as Volvo aims to become a fully-electric car company by the turn of the decade. This follows investments of 30 billion SEK (about AU$4.5 billion) into its EV research, development and production arms.
The latest investment will help Volvo to establish an all-new battery assembly plant, as well as the introduction of new mega-casting capabilities for aluminium body parts, and finally, a refurbished paint and final assembly shop.
The company says that ‘mega casting’ aluminium parts has huge benefits for the sustainability of its vehicles, marking one of the most significant changes to its production methods ever.
It allows Volvo to cast huge sections of a vehicle’s floor structure with a single piece of aluminium, enabling its designers to optimise interior space and packaging, while reducing the cost and complexity of production and the weight of the vehicle itself. Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars’s CEO, said:
“With these investments, we take an important step towards our all-electric future and prepare for even more advanced and better electric Volvos. Torslanda is our largest plant and will play a crucial role in our ongoing transformation as we move towards becoming a pure electric car marker by 2030.”
Volvo’s Torlanda production facility is one of the company’s longest-running factories. It was established back in 1964, and has an annual production capacity of around 300,000 vehicles. Head of engineering and operations at Volvo, Javier Varela, said:
“Today is a great day for the Torslanda plant because we are making it fit for the future with this investment package. Our future as a company is all-electric, and that requires a variety of upgrades across the plant to ensure that Torslanda can continue to build premium electric cars of the highest quality.”
