STOCKHOLM, June 21 — Volvo and Sweden’s Northvolt have joined forces to build a new battery factory in Europe as the automaker aims to sell only fully electric cars by 2030, the companies said today.

Swedish automaker Volvo and the battery start-up said that, through a joint venture, they will build a gigafactory with a potential capacity of 50 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, with production expected to start in 2026.

This would allow Volvo, which is owned by Chinese automaker Geely, to equip around 800,000 vehicles per year.

Europe has been ramping up efforts to become more autonomous in the battery sector, though it is still very dependent on production from Asia.

Europe has projects to build nearly 40 gigafactories with a combined annual output of 1,000 GWh and an estimated cost of €40 billion (US$48 billion), according to a June report by T&E.

Volvo and Northvolt also plan to open a research and development centre in Sweden next year that will develop "next-generation, state-of-the-art battery cells and vehicle integration technologies”, according to their joint statement.

Volvo, meanwhile, will buy 15 GWh of battery cells per year from Northvolt’s Swedish plant in Skelleftea from 2024.

The partnership will contribute to Volvo’s effort to make half of its cars fully electric by mid-decade and all of them 100-per cent electric by 2030.

The deal has yet to be signed and approved by the boards of Volvo and Northvolt.

Northvolt, which aims to become Europe’s largest producer of electric car batteries, has set up partnerships with Volkswagen, BMW and Scania. — AFP