Volvo to assemble electric motors at its powertrain plant in Sweden

Volvo will assemble electric motors at its powertrain plant in Skovde, Sweden. It plans to establish complete in-house e-motor production by mid-decade, for which it will invest 700 million SEK in coming years.

Operations in Skovde have been a part of Volvo Cars' history ever since the company’s founding in 1927 and now the company is adding e-motor production to the plant’s activities.

Volvo says it is committed to becoming a premium electric car company and aims for its global sales to consist of 50 per cent fully electric cars by 2025, with the rest hybrids. The company had announced earlier this year that it is investing significantly in the in-house design and development of e-motors for the next generation of Volvo cars. With the planned investments in Skovde plant towards the same end, the company has taken the first steps towards its goals.

Eventually, Volvo intends to bring the full manufacturing process for e-motors in-house into the Skovde facility. Bringing the development and production of e-motors in-house will allow Volvo Cars engineers to further optimise electric motors and the entire electric driveline in new Volvos. The carmaker says that this approach will allow engineers to make further gains in terms of energy efficiency and overall performance.

The other activities at the Skovde engine plant, focusing on the production of internal combustion engines, will be transferred to a separate subsidiary of Volvo - Powertrain Engineering Sweden (PES). It was earlier announced that PES is intended to be merged with Geely’s combustion engine operations.

Earlier this year, Volvo opened a new electric motor lab in Shanghai, in addition to ongoing e-motor development in Gothenburg, Sweden and state-of-the-art battery labs in China and Sweden.