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| Samsung SDI Executive Vice President Kim Jeong-wook, left, and Volvo Group Chief Purchasing Officer Andrea Fuder sign an agreement on the two companies' strategic alliance for the former to develop battery packs for the latter's electric trucks in Gothenburg, Sweden, July 11. Courtesy of Volvo Group |
By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung SDI will develop battery packs for Volvo Group's electric trucks, the carmaker said Thursday. This will mark a major expansion in the battery maker's electric vehicle portfolio.
According to Volvo Group, it has forged a strategic alliance with Samsung SDI to develop battery packs for Volvo Group's electric trucks. The alliance will cover joint development of battery packs specifically designed for Volvo Group's truck applications, the group said in a statement.
"As we stand at the crosscurrent of the mobility and transportation industry, we are convinced that this alliance will provide superior offerings pertaining to energy, safety and sustainability to the commercial vehicle industry and beyond," Samsung SDI CEO Jun Young-hyun said.
"We are confident that this alliance will secure the market leadership of the two companies in the long term."
The alliance is expected to provide a boost for Samsung SDI in the harsh competition between battery makers.
According to SNE Research, an energy market tracker, Samsung SDI is the world's No. 5 electric vehicle battery cell maker, after manufacturing batteries capable of producing 2.9 gigawatt-hours of power in the first half of this year. Currently, Samsung SDI is supplying batteries for the BMW i3 and the Volkswagen e-Golf.
"With electromobility, the increasing needs for transport will be done in a cleaner and quieter way which opens up new possibilities for our customers and society as a whole," Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt said. "The alliance with Samsung SDI is an important next step on our journey towards offering the world's most truly sustainable transport system with fossil-free alternatives for our commercial vehicles."
Volvo is one of the leading brands in the global electric truck market. In February, Volvo Truck announced the delivery of its first electric trucks to two customers in Sweden.
