Volvo Cars: Forging the Future Through University Collaborations and Research

Volvo Cars, a globally recognized automotive company founded in 1927, deeply values collaboration and research. These partnerships are essential to their ongoing commitment to innovation, sustainability, and safety. With a workforce of approximately 43,400 full-time employees as of December 2023 and sales in over 100 countries, Volvo Cars understands the importance of working with external partners to drive advancements in automotive technology and sustainable mobility solutions. This is reflected in their ambition to become a fully electric car maker by 2030 and their commitment to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.

Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda: A Testbed for the Future

Volvo Cars is committed to its hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, where its head office, product development, marketing, and administration functions are mainly located. The upcoming Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda represents a tailored test bed for automotive development near the heart of Volvo's operations in Gothenburg. This initiative continues Volvo's electrification journey and advancement of its next generation of premium electric cars.

The innovation center will allow Volvo to test emerging technologies in an environment designed to emulate the future society that they envision their cars to be part of. Rather than developing technologies like wireless car charging, vehicle-to-grid bi-directional charging, and self-driving capabilities solely in labs and development centers, Volvo will also be able to test, validate, and deploy innovations in a city-like environment.

Jim Rowan, chief executive of Volvo Cars, states, “With this initiative, we aim to create an ecosystem where we can develop the future of mobility - including cars, the technology inside of them, and the infrastructure around them, all hand in hand.”

The next step in creating the new Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda is to construct buildings to house modern offices just across the road from Volvo's existing campus. Construction will proceed with a cost-effective collaboration between Volvo Cars and real estate developers Vectura Fastigheter and Next Step Group. The additions will also be crucial to fulfill Volvo's ongoing strategic ambitions to be fully electric by 2030 and an industry leader in new technology and sustainable mobility.

The project's sustainability targets are ambitious. The first new construction of 25,000 square meters will be dedicated for Volvo Cars' sole use and is a wood hybrid, which reduces the carbon footprint by 15 percent compared to a traditional frame of steel and concrete. Construction is planned to start in the second quarter of 2024, and the first building is expected to be finished by 2026, in time for Volvo Cars’ one-hundred-year anniversary in 2027.

Current plans also involve Volvo's campus being included in an expansion of the Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative. This zone covers the area where the city of Gothenburg, together with Volvo Cars and additional businesses, researchers, and others, can test new technology for both vehicles and infrastructure with the aim of achieving emission-free transport by 2030. With this initiative, Volvo aims to enhance its connection to other mobility innovation nodes around the city and add even more engineering capabilities to its Gothenburg campus. Together with a recently opened software test center, the area has a strong engineering presence, including a manufacturing plant, design center, and test and development facilities, including a pilot plant, battery lab, wind tunnels, and a safety center with crash test labs. A new battery plant by Novo, Volvo's joint venture with Northvolt, is also under construction.

Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda will join the growing list of Volvo's physical locations around the world, including their recently opened software testing center in Gothenburg and multiple Tech Hubs. Volvo operates Tech Hubs in Sweden (Stockholm and Lund), Poland (Krakow), India (Bangalore), and Singapore. They also have engineering centers in Gothenburg, Sweden, and in Shanghai, China.

GlobalLogic Partnership

Volvo Cars has partnered with GlobalLogic, a leader in digital engineering, to further enhance its automotive technology. Ramki Krishna, Group Vice President & General Manager of the Mobility & Industrial Business at GlobalLogic, stated, “Volvo Cars is one of the most trusted leaders in the automotive industry, and we're honored to be selected as a trusted supplier and innovation partner.” This partnership validates GlobalLogic's deep expertise in product engineering for the automotive and mobility industry, building upon years of expertise in creating in-vehicle software and connected car platforms. GlobalLogic helps brands across the globe design and build innovative products, platforms, and digital experiences for the modern world. By integrating experience design, complex engineering, and data expertise, they help their clients imagine what's possible and accelerate their transition into tomorrow's digital businesses. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, GlobalLogic operates design studios and engineering centers around the world, extending its deep expertise to customers in the Mobility, Communications, Financial Services, Healthcare and Life sciences, Manufacturing, Media and Entertainment, Semiconductor, and Technology industries.

Ångström Materials Academy

Volvo Cars is the newest industry member of the Ångström Materials Academy (ÅMA). Simon Buckingham, Technical Leader for Sustainable Materials at Volvo Cars, explained the company's motivation for joining this university-industry platform: "Volvo Cars has had a strategic partnership with Uppsala University since April 2022, focused on research, education, and innovation. Materials is an area of high strategic importance and focus at Volvo Cars because materials underpin so many of the attributes that our customers value in our vehicles and affect our business performance in numerous ways. This is especially the case with the challenges related to the materials associated with the shift to electric vehicles."

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Buckingham emphasized the collaborative nature of materials research, stating, "Materials is a team sport, and so it was a natural step to deepen our involvement and join the Ångström Materials Academy, ÅMA. Bringing together academia, industry, and other actors with the aim of enabling research and development projects and new innovations, this platform allows us to explore new possibilities, with a focus on materials science. Together we should be able to move faster and have a bigger impact, both inside and outside the automotive sector, across Sweden and beyond."

Volvo Cars aims to be a pioneer in protecting people and the planet by working towards net zero, embracing the circular economy, and improving people’s lives. Volvo has defined specific ambitions when it comes to their use of more sustainable materials. Additionally, they aim to be a good steward of the materials used in their vehicles, passing them on to the next application with minimal degradation. To achieve this, they are heavily reliant on their supply chain partners to produce, recover, and recirculate materials. They are not a material producer themselves, but by working together they believe that they can find solutions that bring value to all stakeholders.

Volvo Group India: Collaborations with Indian Universities

Bolstering its commitment to build a stronger industry-academia engagement and enhance industry readiness, Volvo Group in India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three prominent universities across India-Manipal University, KIIT University, and SRM University. The collaboration will include programs designed to offer mentorship to postgraduates in mechanical, electrical, electronics, and computer science streams.

Lund University Partnership

The Faculty of Engineering at Lund University and Volvo Cars have signed an agreement to strengthen existing research collaborations and identify new areas for mutual benefit and development - and in this way contribute to solutions for sustainability. “Our strategic partnership means that research and industry meet and jointly contribute to knowledge development. “I am happy and proud that we now will deepen the collaboration with Lund University. I believe strongly in knowledge sharing and look forward to investigating new technologies together with the tech talents in the Öresund Region. This also gives us increased opportunities to participate in and contribute to research. Lund University and Volvo Cars have jointly identified five areas that are important to both parties and will be developed through collaboration. Specifically, this includes electrification, wireless communication, security software, sustainable materials, and machine learning and AI. As the joint work progresses, more employees will join. The partnership, which is already taking place in various forms, will allow us to take the co-operation to the next, more strategic level. I look forward to finding more opportunities for collaboration between our engineers and Lund University's researchers and students - the partnership will help us do this. Volvo Cars faces many interesting engineering challenges in the coming years, and I see that Lund University, with both its research and education programmes, can make important contributions here.

Volvo For Life Fund: Coastal Health Initiatives

Through the Volvo For Life Fund, Volvo Cars is launching two new coastal health initiatives in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and the University of Gothenburg, unveiled at The Ocean Race Summit in Alicante, Spain. Volvo Cars is approaching the world's current triple planetary crises - climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, with a holistic approach to sustainability. We are going beyond addressing our CO2 footprint, by expanding our focus to include biodiversity impacts and working with ocean and coastal health. The two new Volvo For Life Fund partners will work directly with restoring coastal health. Through these collaborations, we will help preserve and restore biodiversity along coastal landscapes in two different parts of the world, including regions where Volvo Cars operates. We aim for the projects to have a long-lasting positive impact on the biodiversity, natural ecosystems and population in these areas. The collaboration with The Nature Conservancy will focus on preserving biodiversity through mangrove restoration in non-protected areas of the Indian Sundarbans. The Indian Sundarbans is one of the world’s largest mangrove forests, providing a critical habitat for vulnerable species, including the Bengal tiger, and offering local communities protection from floods. Together with the University of Gothenburg, we are helping to restore eelgrass in Hakefjorden on Sweden’s West Coast, close to our global headquarters. The Volvo For Life Fund is a global initiative that extends Volvo's commitment to safety beyond the road. It supports projects focused on empowering people, restoring and preserving the environment, and providing relief when natural disasters strike.

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ASSAR Industrial Innovation Arena: Battery Assembly Methods Lab

In spring 2025, the Volvo Group will take the next step in developing sustainable drivetrains of the future by establishing a methods lab for battery assembly at the ASSAR Industrial Innovation Arena in Skövde. Volvo's initiative at ASSAR aims to develop and verify new methods, processes, and technologies for battery assembly and prototype manufacturing. For the University, the methods lab serves as a platform for research and education, allowing students and researchers at the University of Skövde to collaborate with Volvo to develop and test new battery assembly techniques. The methods lab is part of Volvo’s overall strategy for sustainable drivetrains and electrification, focusing on developing innovative assembly methods and strengthening battery technology expertise. The initiators of the ASSAR Industrial Innovation Arena are the University of Skövde, IDC West Sweden AB, Science Park Skövde, the Volvo Group, Volvo Cars, and Aurobay.

Carnegie Mellon University: Master of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services (MIIPS) Program

The Master of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services (MIIPS) program at Carnegie Mellon University prepares students to lead innovation through hands-on experience. Students are divided into thoughtfully curated cross-functional teams, combining their diverse backgrounds in engineering, design, and business. These teams are then partnered with industry sponsors. During the capstone project, students collaborate closely with a company to ensure the solution's feasibility and alignment with the company's needs. The Integrated Innovation Institute has over 35 years of capstone project experience and 20 years of sponsor collaborations across nearly 50 corporate partnerships.

Multiple MIIPS student teams have worked with Volvo Group to address challenges in the construction and transportation industries:

2018 MIIPS Team: Focused on bridging the gap between manual operation and autonomous control in the construction industry. The Common Cab was a glimpse into the future of construction. By integrating 6-8 cameras and a drone into Volvo's compact excavator, operators could now control complex machinery from a remote location with unprecedented precision.
2024 MIIPS Team: Tackled a critical challenge facing small business owners: the complex world of truck ownership and maintenance, creating MackCare, representing Mack's commitment to customer success.

These collaborations go far beyond traditional academic sponsorship. The MIIPS degree's capstone project is more than an academic exercise - it's a launchpad for professional innovation.

Corporate Leaders Group Europe

On 2 September 2025, Volvo Cars officially joined Corporate Leaders Group Europe. Volvo Cars is walking the talk by transitioning to becoming a fully electric car manufacturer and working with many partners in their value chain to reduce their material footprint. Electrification is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce emissions, improve public health, and build a more resilient society. But it’s also a growth opportunity. It drives innovation, creates green jobs, and supports the development of a more competitive and future-proof European economy. To fully realise EU's sustainable growth potential, we need the wider ecosystem onboard. That’s why our membership in CLG Europe is so important.

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