Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has inaugurated its new battery production facility in Changwon, South Korea. Mass production of the battery packs began on 23 April 2024, and they will initially be used in the new model of Volvo 23-t EC230 Electric excavator which is scheduled to start mass production in Changwon from August 2024.

This new 2,500 sq m facility is situated within the existing component workshop at Volvo CE’s Changwon plant and includes assembly and logistics areas. It has been built with an investment cost of US$7.8 million and will produce battery pack solutions for the Volvo Group.

“In April 2022, we established a mass production line for electric excavators and with the completion of this new facility, we can now produce them in-house, from batteries to finished products, saving time and logistics costs,” said Andrew Knight, head of excavator industrial strategy and managing director of Volvo Group Korea.

According to Volvo CE, Changwon is an ideal location for a battery pack production facility as it is close to battery module supply partners and other key suppliers in South Korea.

“The investment in our facilities is an important part of our strategy to drive the transformation towards more sustainable solutions and to help us meet our Science Based Target commitments,” said Kamel Sid, head of operations at Volvo CE.

“We have an ambition to be fossil-free and for 35% of our machine sales to be electric by 2030, so investing in our facilities is another important step on our electrification roadmap.,” added Mr Sid. “We see increasing demand from our customers for more sustainable solutions and we are committed to meeting this demand by adapting our production for electric machines.”