Volvo Group will add battery module manufacturing at its Ghent, Belgium truck plant, with production scheduled to begin in 2025. The move is part of the Swedish maker's push to put at least 35% of vehicles sold on electric power by 2030.
The first-phase investment frame is 75 million euros (about 75.09 million dollars), according to pmtoday.co.uk. The new facility will span roughly 12,000 square meters and run in an almost fully automated mode.
The short version:
- Location: Ghent, Belgium, on an existing Volvo truck plant site.
- Scope: new battery module manufacturing line, first phase.
- Start of production: 2025.
- First-phase budget: 75 million euros; total figure not disclosed.
- Footprint: about 12,000 square meters; near-full automation.
- Cell sourcing: modules designed to accept cells from partners and from a planned Swedish cell facility.
- Target: at least 35% of vehicles sold to be electric by 2030.
- Adjacent milestone: Ghent truck factory begins building heavy-duty electric trucks next year; Gothenburg already does so.
The reporting, in plain terms
Volvo Group framed the decision as another step in shaping its own battery value chain, pmtoday.co.uk reported. Module assembly sits downstream of cell production, so the line is being built to flex between partner-supplied cells and cells made in-house at the planned Swedish plant.
A fully automated 12,000 sqm module hall is a serious capex item even for a tier-one OEM. The 75M euro frame covers only the first step; Volvo did not disclose the total. Treat that number as a floor, not a ceiling.
Background: why a truck OEM is building modules at all
Battery modules are the packaged building blocks that sit between raw cells and a vehicle pack. They are easier to ship than finished packs, simpler to automate, and let them keep final chemistry choices flexible late in the program.
That flexibility matters in trucking, where duty cycles, weight budgets, and uptime targets differ sharply from passenger EVs. Volvo's electric heavy-duty line already runs in Gothenburg. Adding Ghent gives the group a second European assembly hub that can serve both regional truck production and the wider battery value chain.
Our analysis
This is a classic dual-sourcing play dressed up as a sustainability story. By designing the Ghent line to accept cells from partners or from the Swedish cell plant, Volvo is keeping optionality while the cell-supply market settles.
Who benefits: automation vendors, cell partners who want a locked-in offtake, and Belgian industrial engineering firms picking up the integration work. Who carries the risk: the in-house cell program in Sweden, because Volvo now has a module line that does not need it to perform in year one.
The near-full automation line is also a quietly significant staffing signal. A 12,000 sqm hall with a small headcount changes how operations, maintenance, and shift coverage are scoped. Expect a different org chart than the one in Gothenburg.
A worked scenario
Say you are a project manager at a tier-one supplier bidding on the Ghent program. Your bid model has to assume a near-fully automated line, which means tooling, vision systems, and MES integration are the headline cost drivers, not manual assembly stations.
Pull a multi-discipline integration lead into the bid team early. Schedule a formal readiness review 90 days before line acceptance, not 60. And price a six-month standby support window; this category of greenfield module line rarely hits nameplate on first ramp.
What to watch next
The missing number is the total investment frame. Until Volvo publishes it, treat every "battery gigafactory" headline skeptically. The second number to watch is the ramp curve at the Swedish cell plant, because Ghent's automation tolerance depends on cell quality being boring.
Bottom line: a 75M euro first phase is the entry ticket, not the show.
Key takeaways
- Ghent gets a near-fully automated 12,000 sqm battery module line, first phase funded at 75M euros, total undisclosed.
- Production start is 2025; cell input can come from partners or the planned Swedish cell plant.
- Target remains at least 35% of vehicles sold to be electric by 2030; Gothenburg already builds heavy-duty electric trucks, Ghent joins next year.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Ghent battery module line start producing?
Volvo Group said the line begins production in 2025, according to pmtoday.co.uk.
How big is the facility and how automated is it?
The new facility covers roughly 12,000 square meters and is described by Volvo as almost fully automated.
How much is Volvo investing in the first phase?
The first phase has a stated investment frame of 75 million euros; the total investment figure was not disclosed.
Where will the cells be sourced from?
The line is designed to use cells from partners and from a planned battery cell plant in Sweden.
How does this fit Volvo's broader electrification target?
Volvo Group has stated an ambition that at least 35% of vehicles it sells will be electric by 2030, with electric heavy-duty trucks already built in Gothenburg and slated to start in Ghent next year.