Rapidly moving towards becoming a fully electric car company, Volvo Cars is bringing battery cell technology development and production closer to home and aims to tailor its future batteries to the needs of its customers: a longer range and faster charging times.
It will do so by improving lithium-ion battery technology on its forthcoming second generation of electric cars, starting with the company’s first SUV on a completely new electric-only technology base.
By the middle of the decade, as it introduces its third generation of electric cars, Volvo Cars plans to improve the range further and integrate the battery pack into the floor of the car, using the cell structure for overall vehicle stiffness and improving efficiency.
In the near term, Volvo Cars plans to work with leading Swedish battery company Northvolt to further increase the energy density in its battery cells by up to 50 per cent compared to what is on the market today. Later this decade, Volvo Cars also looks to break the 1000 Wh/l energy density milestone, in order to achieve 1000 km of real driving range.
Current charging times are expected to be cut almost in half by mid-decade, thanks to better battery technology and continuous improvements to software and fast-charging technology.