Batteries & charging

We require all our suppliers and their suppliers to follow our values with regard to respect for human rights, the environment and business ethics.

Lithium ion batteries contain certain scarce materials, such as heavy metals and rare earth metals. Some of the scarce materials that can be found in lithium ion batteries and other electromobility components sometimes come from sources that benefit armed groups in the area of origin, either directly or indirectly. Often these materials are referred to as conflict minerals. Volvo Trucks is assessing its entire supply chain to ensure that all the tantalum, tungsten, tellurium, gold and cobalt used in its truck batteries comes from non-conflict sources. The Volvo Group respects human rights and does not tolerate any form of child labor or forced labor. We also collaborate with the European automotive industry through the "Drive Sustainability" Initiative (www.drivesustainability.org). The purpose of this collaboration is to jointly drive positive change in the automotive supply chain with regards to human rights and environment.

So far the numbers of end-of-life batteries have been fairly low, but as we ramp up our production of electrified trucks the need for recycling and reuse streams will increase. To be prepared for this, Volvo Trucks is working together with waste contractors and other actors to maximise the recycling rate of electric batteries. We are also looking into second use options for old batteries to find ways of prolonging their useful life in other applications, such as energy storage in buildings.

Volvo Group has established Volvo Energy, a business area that will manage the batteries after the usage in the first truck. There will be opportunities to repurpose e.g. energy storage, as well as opportunities concerning remanufacturing, refurbishment and recycling. We closely follow the development of recycling technologies and participate in several projects where electric vehicle (EV) batteries are transferred to other applications, such as storage in solar energy systems, after they have reached their operational capacity limit.

This varies greatly from country to country. But, the availability of energy from renewable sources is growing rapidly, and this energy is often more cost-effective than fossil fuels. As one of the world's largest manufacturers of heavy trucks we have the opportunity to work with other influential stakeholders, such as energy providers. We are committed to leading the way towards a fossil-free future, and therefore promote green energy as much as we can to our customers, to policymakers, and through different projects and forums. For more information regarding the EU energy mix, please see the Volvo Trucks environmental footprint calculator.

Electric vehicles require a large amount of energy when they are being charged. One way of managing this is to encourage users to charge their vehicles overnight and to spread and balance the demand over both large grids and local grids in smart ways. Major investments are now being made - and are urgently needed - in developing the infrastructure and creating more charging stations. Initially, most trucks will need to be charged at their home base. At Volvo we are stressing the need for governments to introduce incentives for the installation of public charging stations with a high capacity and enough space for trucks.

Volvo Group, Daimler Truck and Traton Group have formed a joint venture that aims to install and operate at least 1,700 public charging points near highways and at logistics hubs and unloading zones, within five years from start of operation. The charging stations will be operated exclusively with green electricity and offer charging to all heavy-duty battery electric vehicles, regardless of brand.

Volvo electric trucks fulfil both of the following criteria:

(a) reusable or recyclable to a minimum of 85% by weight

(b) reusable or recoverable to a minimum of 95% by weight

They meet these requirements with a margin based on ISO 22628. Reports showing the details of the material composition in each of the truck models, and the subsequent recyclability and recovery rates, are made available.

When we supply a truck, we assess the route carefully with the customer and calculate where charging will be needed to meet the transport requirements. Volvo is constantly investigating new options and collaborations relating to the charging of our vehicles.

Initially we believe that the majority of trucks will be charged at the customer’s home base overnight. As electric vehicles become more common, there will also be the need and the opportunity to charge them in many different places, such as loading bays, service workshops, truck stops and other places where trucks are parked.

Our heavy-duty trucks can be charged with an AC charger (for example a charging box) at up to 43 kW and with a DC system (stationary charging station) which has a capacity of 250 kW

Using an AC charger it takes around 9 hours to fully charge the batteries. With a DC charger, the charging time is reduced to approximately 2 hours. The battery can be charged more quickly up to 80% capacity, in just the same way as a smartphone, because the charger slows down towards the end of the process to protect the battery cells.

The lifetime of a battery is detemined by many different factors. There is natural ageing over time, but it's also influenced by how much energy is cycled through the battery. The Gold Service Contract not only covers service and maintenance for the truck but also ensures that its batteries are functional throughout the contract period.

The driver can track the state of charge on the truck’s instrument cluster. It can also be monitored remotely via the Volvo Connect portal which shows the location of the truck and the current charging status in different views. Volvo’s MyTruck app also has a charge monitoring function and a series of other useful functions for electric trucks.

The Volvo Service Contract for electric trucks includes monitoring the batteries to ensure that they maintain their capacity during their service life. The contract also guarantees the battery function beyond the two-year driveline guarantee that comes with the truck. The lifetime of a battery is determined by many different factors, for instance you have the natural aging over time, but it's also influenced by how much energy that is cycled through the battery. We have a service contract (Gold Service Contract) that not only covers service and maintenance for the truck, but also ensures batteries throughout the contract period.

We use lithium-ion batteries. Depending on the model, trucks can be offered with anything from 2 to 6 battery packs. Each battery pack has a total energy of 90 kWh. Each battery weighs 505 kg. In 2022 we opened our first battery assembly plant in Ghent in Belgium. The plant will supply batteries for our electric heavy-duty trucks.

Volvo is investigating and offering remanufacturing, recycling and second life solutions, in which the batteries can be used for different purposes.

DC charging using CCS2 up to 250 kW (600-750V) and AC charging using type 2 up to 43 kW.