Video: Volvo boss Martin Lundstedt talks about the group’s new EV business

Volvo Group has created a new business to focus on battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell development. 

Volvo Energy will also be focused on charging infrastructure and finding ways to give remanufactured and refurbished batteries a second life in different applications. 

It’s expected the used batteries will still have considerable life left to offer ideal energy storage purposes in buildings or green energy production. 

The new business area will have full profit and loss responsibility with financial results reported as part of the truck segment, it says. 

Volvo already offers electric vehicles and machines from city buses and trucks for waste management, construction and urban distribution to compact excavators and loaders. 

This includes the arrival of the first Volvo FL Electric on Australian shores.

The company says it will continue to release additional electric vehicles later this year which includes electric heavy-duty Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX trucks, which will be used for regional transport and urban construction operations in Europe. 

“There is a great and growing interest for electric vehicles and machines among our customers,” Volvo president and chief executive Martin Lundstedt says. 

“This is of course very positive as it accelerates the transition towards more sustainable transport solutions. 

“Our ambition is to offer our customers the most competitive solutions when it comes to electrification, including batteries and charging infrastructure. 

“With Volvo Energy, we are taking a holistic view of the entire life cycle, which benefits both our customers’ business and society as a whole.

“With Volvo Energy, we are further increasing our focus on this important area. We are also giving vehicle batteries a second life, which is both a business opportunity and a way to contribute to the creation of a circular economy and a fossil free society,” Lundstedt says. 

The new business will be led by Volvo Group executive board member and UD Trucks chairman Joachim Rosenberg. 

Rosenberg will also continue to run UD Trucks and prepare the transfer of UD Trucks ownership to Isuzu Motors as part of a strategic alliance.