The company recently opened a brand-new electric motor lab in Shanghai, China, the latest addition to its global network of facilities for the development and testing of electric car components. The lab comes in addition to ongoing e-motor development in Gothenburg, Sweden, and state-of-the-art battery labs in China and Sweden.

Taking over the role of the internal combustion engine in car engineering, e-motors are a fundamental building block of electric cars, together with the battery and power electronics. The interplay between these three component areas is crucial in developing premium electric cars.

Bringing the development of electric motors in-house will allow Volvo Cars engineers to further optimize electric motors and the entire electric driveline in new Volvos. This approach will allow engineers to make further gains in terms of energy efficiency and overall performance.

E-motors enable hallmark features that electric cars are known for, such as instant acceleration and so-called One Pedal Driving, whereby drivers use the accelerator pedal both for acceleration and deceleration, depending on whether they push in or lift their foot off the pedal.

The newly opened electric motor lab in Shanghai became operational last month. It will mainly focus on electric motor development for use in fully electric and hybrid cars based on Volvo Cars’ forthcoming SPA 2 modular vehicle architecture.

The investments in e-motor design and development represent yet another step towards Volvo Cars’ climate ambitions and electrification strategy. It aims for 50 per cent of its sales to be fully electric vehicles by 2025, with the rest hybrids.