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interface news reporter | gao jing

“achieve net zero emissions across the entire value chain by 2040。”this is a goal that the volvo group, one of the world's largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, has repeatedly emphasized.

founded in 1927, volvo group is sweden's largest industrial group. its current business covers the manufacture and service of trucks, buses, construction equipment, ships and drive systems for industrial applications.

the volvo group has production bases in 18 countries around the world, operates in 190 markets, and employs approximately 100,000 people.

to achieve the net zero emissions target, volvo group has proposed three major solutions: battery electric solutions, fuel cell electric solutions, and internal combustion engines using renewable fuels.

"among them, the most core point is undoubtedly electrification." johan lunden, senior vice president of the project and product strategy office of volvo group truck technology department, said in a group interview with media including jiemian news.

last year, volvo group's deliveries of fully electric vehicles and machines increased by 128% year-on-year to 4,996 units. the greenhouse gas emissions of all its products sold were 17.6% lower than in 2019.

according to data from the international energy agency (iea), global sales of electric trucks will increase by 35% year-on-year to 54,000 units in 2023. according to the iea, global sales of electric trucks are expected to continue to grow due to strong policy support in europe and the united states.

currently, the main battery supplier for volvo trucks is samsung sdi of south korea. according to the latest data from sne research, a south korean research institute, samsung sdi's installed capacity in the first half of the year reached 16.4 gwh.occupy the world4.5%of the market,it ranks sixth in the global power battery installation list. china's catl (300750.sz) and byd (002594.sz) rank first and second on the list with market shares of 37.8% and 15.8% respectively.

the volvo group is also planning to build its own battery production plant.

in 2022, volvo group announced the start of construction of a large-scale battery production plant in mariestad, sweden. the batteries produced will be designed specifically for commercial vehicle applications to support the global popularization of electric drive systems for electric trucks, buses, construction equipment and other different applications.

johan pointed out that due to environmental approval and other reasons, the construction progress of the plant has been slow. the groundbreaking ceremony has begun and it is expected to be fully operational in 2029.

he said that the construction of the swedish battery factory was mainly for localization considerations.final assemblysetting up a battery factory near the factory can significantly improve logistics efficiency. it can also ensure that the production of batteries in the future can use clean energy as much as possible, thereby reducing carbon emissions in the product value chain.

in addition, volvo group also announced at the end of last year that it would acquire the battery system business of proterra, an american electric bus manufacturer and battery manufacturer. the acquired assets include a battery module and battery pack development center in california, usa, and an assembly plant in south carolina.

johan said that the acquisition of proterra was partly to cope with the development of new energy trucks in the united states. on the other hand, it was largely to cope with the u.s. inflation reduction act to ensure the competitiveness of the company's products in the u.s. market.

johan also said that volvo group's long-term partnership with samsung sdi will continue. "the new swedish factory and the battery factory in the united states are mainly to ensure that the group can have a longer-term supply of batteries."

in addition to battery factories, the construction of charging networks is another core element in achieving electrification.

"the construction of the charging network should keep pace with the expansion of the electric truck market, so that customers will not let the lack of charging stations become a barrier to purchase when they buy a car." said karin svensson, chief sustainability officer of volvo group.

in 2021, volvo group announced that it had signed an agreement with daimler truck ag and transtop group to jointly build a high-performance public charging network for long-distance heavy-duty electric trucks and buses in europe. it is planned to set up at least 1,700 high-performance green energy charging stations along highways, near logistics transfer stations and terminal stations by 2027.

in addition, according to karin, volvo group has also reached cooperation with some gas stations in the united states and plans to establish a charging network in the us market based on gas stations.

karin pointed out that the current charging network construction in europe has completed the site selection for charging piles and has entered the actual construction stage. the construction of the charging network in the united states started later and is still in the site selection stage.