Volvo announced that they appointed former Tesla executive Adrian Clarke as head of their battery cell production company.
Clarke will work with Northvolt to open a dedicated battery factory in Gothenburg.
In addition, the joint venture will also open a research and development centre alongside the battery factory.
This investment is the first step in Volvo‘s 2.5 billion-pound investment strategy to build batteries for their cars.
The new venture will create up to three thousand jobs in Gothenburg.
However, more importantly for Volvo, it will separate it from other European automakers.
As the Swedish automaker will be one of the few companies doing battery cell development and production within the same vertical supply chain.
The new battery factory will begin construction in 2023 and be fully up and running in 2026.
The factory will produce 50 GWh of battery cells per year. In addition, the factory will go a long way to support Volvo‘s goal of a manufacturing network that is genuinely climate-neutral.
Until the battery plant is up and running, Volvo will source 15 GWh per year of battery cells from Northvolt‘s Skelleftea facility. These cells will support the current generation of Volvo’s EV production.
