Electrifying ambitions
In time, Volvo Trucks aims to bring more electric trucks onto the market. Medium-heavy electric trucks are already being built today. But in the future, heavy trucks, such as the classic model produced in Ghent, will also be electrified. This means that the Swedish manufacturer will also have to assemble heavy batteries.
In addition to a major investment, this production process involves the introduction of a completely new technology and requires a lot of highly specialized expertise, which the company finds in Ghent, Flanders.
At the beginning of 2020, the Ghent factory of its sister company Volvo Cars also established a production unit to manufacture batteries for electric passenger vehicles – representing an investment of around EUR 150 million. Meanwhile, various other automotive companies and truck builders also rely on Flanders’ expertise for their advanced manufacturing activities, including Dutch DAF Trucks, which channeled EUR 200 million into the expansion of its local factory in 2019.