This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Categories
Volvo Cars to establish a mobility innovation centre for emerging technologies in Torslanda, Sweden
Read time: 3 minutes
The innovation centre will allow the company to test emerging technologies in an environment designed to emulate the future society that Volvo envision its cars to be part of.
Volvo Cars announced that it is establishing the Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda which will be a tailored test bed of automotive development near the heart of the carmaker’s operations in Gothenburg, Sweden. This initiative continues the company’s electrification journey and advancement of the next generation of premium electric cars and is also a recommitment to its hometown of nearly one hundred years.
The innovation centre will allow the company to test emerging technologies in an environment designed to emulate the future society that Volvo envision its cars to be part of. So rather than developing technologies like wireless car charging, vehicle-to-grid bi-directional charging and self-driving capabilities solely in labs and development centres, the carmaker will also be able to test, validate and deploy its innovations in a city-like environment.
Alongside new buildings and facilities for testing, engineering and materials, the company plans to expand the Volvo Cars’ campus in Torslanda, Gothenburg, to house start-ups and business partners.
“With this initiative we aim to create an ecosystem where we can develop the future of mobility – including cars, the technology inside of them and the infrastructure around them, all hand in hand,” said Jim Rowan, Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. “Our ambition is to pioneer technology, attract global talent and connect with other cutting-edge businesses.”
The next step for the carmaker in creating the new Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda is to construct buildings to house modern offices just across the road from its existing campus. Construction will proceed with a cost-effective collaboration between Volvo Cars and real estate developers Vectura Fastigheter and Next Step Group.
The additions will also be crucial to fulfil the carmaker’s ongoing strategic ambitions to be fully electric by 2030 and an industry leader in new technology and sustainable mobility.
The project’s sustainability targets are ambitious. The first new construction of 25,000 square metres will be dedicated for Volvo Cars’ sole use and is a wood hybrid, which reduces the carbon footprint by 15% compared to a traditional frame of steel and concrete. The construction is planned to start in the second quarter of 2024 and the first building is expected to be finished by 2026, in time for Volvo Cars’ one-hundred-year anniversary in 2027.
Current plans also involve the campus to be included in an expansion of the Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative. This zone covers the area where the city of Gothenburg together with Volvo Cars and additional businesses, researchers and others can test new technology for both vehicles and infrastructure with the aim of achieving emission-free transport by 2030.
With this initiative, Volvo Cars aims to enhance its connection to other mobility innovation nodes around the city and add even more engineering capabilities to its Gothenburg campus.
Together with a recently opened software test centre, the area has a strong engineering presence including a manufacturing plant, design centre and test and development facilities including a pilot plant, battery lab, wind tunnels, safety centre with crash test labs.
A new battery plant by Novo, a joint venture between Volvo Cars and Northvolt, is also under construction. In 2022, Volvo Cars also announced that it will invest SEK 10 billion in the Torslanda plant for next-generation fully electric car production, including the introduction of mega casting of aluminium body parts, a new battery assembly plant and fully refurbished paint and final assembly shops.
Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda will join the growing list of the company’s physical locations around the world, including the recently opened software testing centre in Gothenburg and multiple Tech Hubs.
Volvo Cars operates Tech Hubs in Sweden (Stockholm and Lund), Poland (Krakow), India (Bangalore) and Singapore. It also has engineering centres in Gothenburg, Sweden and in Shanghai, China. While each of these locations has its own focus, together they represent a crucial network of strategically located innovation centres.