Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

VOLVO

Volvo plans new electric battery plant in Sweden

Swedish lorry and heavy equipment maker Volvo Group said on Wednesday it planned to open a new battery factory in Sweden to manufacture battery cells for heavy-duty vehicles and machines.

Published: 3 August 2022 16:33 CEST
Volvo plans new electric battery plant in Sweden
Photo: Joakim Ståhl/SvD/TT

“There is a strong demand from our customers already today, and by 2030, it is our ambition that at least 35 percent of the products we sell are electric”, Volvo Group chief executive Martin Lundstedt said in a statement.

“This ramp-up will require large volumes of high-performing batteries, produced using fossil free energy and it is a logical next step for us to include battery production in our future industrial footprint”, he added.

The project, which is subject to approvals from relevant authorities, calls for the construction of a plant in Mariestad in southern Sweden, near Volvo’s main powertrain plant.

The site was chosen in order to “benefit from the region’s existing industrial and logistics infrastructure” and its access to Sweden’s “rich supply of fossil free energy”, the company said.

Volvo Group is a wholly-Swedish company that split in 1999 from automobile maker Volvo Cars, which is now owned by Chinese group Geely.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Stockholm’s Bromma Airport’s future in doubt after it loses 90 percent of air traffic

The future of Stockholm's second airport, Bromma, is in doubt after regional airline BRA struck a deal with SAS that will move nearly all flights to Arlanda Airport.

Published: 17 September 2024 13:13 CEST
Stockholm's Bromma Airport's future in doubt after it loses 90 percent of air traffic

As of January 1st, BRA will operate flights on behalf of SAS with Stockholm’s principal airport Arlanda as a hub, the two airlines announced in separate press releases.

As a result, around 90 percent of air traffic will disappear from Bromma airport, according to the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

“I don’t think the airport will survive without us,” Per G Braathen, president of the BRA airline, told a press conference.

“We have been present at Bromma for 25 years and it is not profitable to run this airport. We need to concentrate on Arlanda,” he added.

The deal with SAS extends for over seven years and is worth around six billion kronor (530 million euros), BRA said in a statement.

The airline added that its fleet would be expanded and “more pilots and cabin crew will be recruited”, while ground services and administrative functions would be reduced.

The integration of BRA’s fleet with SAS will enhance Swedish infrastructure but is also “positioning Arlanda as a stronger central hub for domestic and international travel”, SAS CEO Anko van der Werff said in a statement.

Jonas Abrahamsson, CEO of Swedavia which operates Sweden’s airports, said that Tuesday’s announcement meant that domestic flights would now be concentrated on Arlanda.

“Bromma in principle will be without scheduled services,” Abrahamsson said in a statement.

He added that while many travellers liked Bromma, “a consolidation of air traffic to Arlanda is a natural development”.

Bromma Airport will lose its biggest air traffic operator from the turn of the year. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

The city of Stockholm wants to close Bromma airport as soon as possible to make way for housing and infrastructure, but Swedavia has a contract to operate the airport until 2038.

Daniella Waldfogel, CEO of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the announcement and said it meant that the closure of Bromma should be “moved forward”.

SHOW COMMENTS