Samsung SDI, Volvo Trucks celebrate 5th year of cooperation

South Korea's Samsung SDI Co. and global commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo Trucks held a commemorative event to discuss the expansion of their partnership on the occasion of their fifth anniversary of collaboration.

According to Samsung SDI on Tuesday, Volvo's management team including the President and CEO of the Volvo Group Martin Lundstedt, recently visited Samsung SDI's Cheonan plant. They toured the production line and attended the celebration.

The two companies have agreed to widen their collaboration to encompass not only electric trucks and buses but also construction equipment and energy storage systems (ESS).

Samsung SDI began in 2018 supplying battery cells for electric trucks and buses to Volvo Trucks through the German battery system manufacturer Akasol AG. Subsequently, in 2019, the two companies entered into a strategic business agreement for next-generation electric mobility.

Under the terms of the agreement at the time, Samsung SDI has been directly supplying battery cells and modules to Volvo since last year, and jointly developed battery packs are now applied to Volvo's electric trucks.

Volvo Trucks' first large electric truck FM Electric, which was launched last year, is equipped with over 28,000 of Samsung SDI's 21700 high-nickel cylindrical batteries. FM Electric made its debut at the "InterBattery 2023" battery industry exhibition held in Seoul in March this year, drawing significant attention.

"We will strengthen our strategic alliance that has been maintained over the past five years and provide battery solutions ensuring the highest quality and safety, leveraging cutting-edge technology, for a wider range of Volvo Group applications," CEO of Samsung SDI Choi Yoonho said. 

Volvo Group CEO Lundstedt emphasized that his company's partnership with Samsung SDI was instrumental in sustaining technological development toward sustainable mobility. He also stressed that with batteries optimized for the group's applications, it is one step closer to achieving its 2040 net-zero supply chain goal.

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com