Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB will be providing the required steel for manufacturing as Volvo is committed, to the Paris agreement on climate change to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040
In the month of September this year, Volvo announced the series production of heavy-duty electric 44-tonne trucks. Being the first global truck manufacturer of electric trucks, the company has now said that a few of the electric trucks will also be built with fossil-free steel.
Jessica Sandström, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Volvo Trucks, said, “Our journey to net zero emissions includes both making our vehicles fossil free in operation and over time fully replacing the material in our trucks with fossil-free and recycled alternatives.”
The fossil-free steel is being acquired from the Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB. New technology with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen, is an important step towards a net-zero emissions value chain. Among the customers that will have fossil-free steel in some of their electric trucks are Amazon and DFDS and, through the transport company Simon Loos, Unilever.
Andreas Marschner, Vice President of Transportation Services Europe at Amazon, added, “At Amazon, we are on the way to making all of our operations net-zero carbon by 2040. We need partners like Volvo to make this transition happen.”
Niklas Andersson, EVP of DFDS Logistics Division added, “DFDS is committed to our green transition and to deliver greener transport and logistics solutions. Any step in the green transition of logistics brings us closer to a carbon-free society and we are therefore happy to learn that some of our new electric trucks soon to be delivered are also produced with fossil-free steel.”
The first steel produced with hydrogen is being used in the electric truck’s frame rails, the backbone of the truck upon which all other main components are mounted. As the availability of fossil-free steel increases, it will also be introduced in other parts of the truck.
30% of the materials used for Volvo trucks come from recycled materials. The company is committed, to the Paris agreement on climate change and to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the entire value chain by 2040, at the latest.
