Volvo will manufacture electric wheel loaders in Sweden
The Volvo Group is spending USD 6.3 million to bring production of electric wheel loaders to its factory in Arvika, Sweden. That facility currently specializes in the production of medium and large wheel loaders. The funding will allow the facility to expand its facilities with a new building and phase-in of the additional product line.
Volvo is also investing in manufacturing facilities for electric dump trucks, which will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Braås, Sweden.
The investments, Volvo CE said in an announcement, are a sign of the company’s commitment to achieving more sustainable solutions for customers across all of its product lines. Volvo CE expects to be completely fossil-free by 2040 – in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement and according to the manufacturer’s industry-leading Science-Based Target. It has also proclaimed its ambition that 35 percent of its machines sold will be electric by 2030.
“This is a clear signal of our commitment to building the world we want to live in. It has been more than 40 years since we last invested in a new building and what better reason now than to invest in our future, our planet and the next generation”, stated Arvika site manager Mikael Liljestrand. “We know that this is not only important to our customers and stakeholders, who rightly have high expectations of us, but it is also close to our hearts to be part of something bigger in order to building our future.”
Arvika will construct a new 1,500 square meter building, freeing up space inside its assembly plant to build the electric wheel loaders. The choice of models and the timing of the electric transformation have not yet been finalized, but both electric wheel loaders and more traditional wheel loaders equipped with internal combustion engines will continue on the same production line for the time being.
Volvo CE has already successfully introduced compact electric wheel loaders to the global market with its L20 Electric and L25 Electric wheel loaders. Together with its ECR25 Electric, ECR18 Electric and EC18 Electric compact excavators and the EC230 medium-sized electric excavator, the company says it has one of the largest electric ranges on the market.
