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03 November 2023

Daily Newsletter

Volvo Cars launches new Energy Solutions business

Automakers are increasingly looking at domestic use synergies in future EV charging set-ups

Dani Cole November 03 2023

Geely-owned Volvo Cars has launched a new business unit, Volvo Cars Energy Solutions.

It will offer energy storage and charging-related technologies and services.

Working with Göteborg Energi Nät AB, a local grid company in Volvo’s Swedish hometown of Gothenburg, the automaker is launching a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) pilot programme that aims to test V2G technologies on the local energy grid and in a home environment with real customers.

The pilot will use a low-cost AC wallbox which will help to accelerate widespread adoption of the technology, Volvo Cars says.

Alexander Petrofski, the new head of Volvo Cars Energy Solutions said: “With bi-directional charging, you can use your car battery as an extra energy supply, for example to provide power to your home, other electric devices or another electric Volvo car.

“The next step would be to enable this feature all around Sweden, and hopefully that will pave the way for even broader acceptance of similar charging and energy storage services around Europe.”

Volvo Cars aims to be a fully electric car company by 2030.

High upfront costs could be detrimental towards the growth of the off-highway EV market

The global off-highway electric market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.4% by 2030, per GlobalData. Despite the strong growth, high upfront costs may pose a challenge. Due to the high capacity of these vehicles, they consume large amounts of power from a number of battery packs installed on the vehicle, whose high cost in turn adds to the cost of the vehicle, thereby increasing the initial cost. However, governments worldwide are offering subsidies and tax exemptions in order to help customers to counter the initial purchase cost.