Volvo to produce electric motors in Skovde, Sweden

Volvo Cars will assemble electric motors at its powertrain plant in Skovde, Sweden, and plans to establish complete in-house e-motor production by the middle of the decade. It will invest $110.2 million to this end in the coming years.

The Skovde operations have been part of the Volvo Cars story ever since its founding in 1927. Adding e-motor production to the plant's activities means the historic ground in Skovde will be a part of the company's future as well.

Volvo Cars 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, it now takes the first steps towards in-house e-motor assembly and manufacturing.

In a first stage, the Skovde facility will assemble e-motors. At a later stage, the company intends to bring the full manufacturing process for e-motors in-house into a facility in Skovde.

Taking over the role of the internal combustion engine in car engineering, e-motors are a fundamental building block of electric cars, together with the battery and power electronics. The interplay between these three component areas is crucial in developing premium electric cars.

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. This approach will allow engineers to make further gains in terms of energy efficiency and overall performance.

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

The remaining activities at the Skovde engine plant, focusing on the production of internal combustion engines, will be transferred to a separate subsidiary of Volvo Cars, named Powertrain Engineering Sweden (PES).