Volvo Launches New Electric Vehicle Tech Centre in Poland
Volvo is set to establish a novel technology center in Poland, marking its fourth global hub and the second one outside of Sweden. This software development facility, situated in Kraków, aims to employ a workforce of up to 600 individuals and will play a pivotal role in Volvo's transition towards all-electric manufacturing.
According to the company, this technological hub will be crucial in realizing their strategic vision of becoming a fully electric brand and a frontrunner in pioneering technologies, particularly through in-house software development. The tech center will assume full responsibility for the comprehensive development of key features for their new fleet of fully electric vehicles.
Kraków was chosen as the location for this hub due to its emergence as a thriving tech center, with a diverse network of tech firms in the vicinity. Moreover, the city boasts a significant presence of telecommunication companies. Volvo already operates technology centers in Stockholm and Lund, Sweden, and Bangalore, India.
The Kraków hub is scheduled to commence operations by the end of this year, initially employing 120 staff members, with the workforce projected to reach 500-600 employees by 2025. Volvo has already initiated the recruitment process by advertising positions for embedded software engineers, system architects, and testers.
Jim Rowan, CEO of Volvo Cars, stated, "The engineers will be tasked with developing solutions related to safety, as well as providing fundamental support for onboard computers," as reported by the news service Interia.
Despite Poland having a relatively low proportion of electric vehicles compared to other EU countries, with only 3.6% of newly registered cars being electric or hybrid, it is rapidly establishing itself as a prominent production hub.
In 2020, Poland became the largest exporter of electric buses in the EU, with Solaris, a Spanish-owned Polish manufacturer, being the largest producer of such buses in Europe.
Additionally, it was announced that Poland would host the first facility in the European Union, and one of the first globally, dedicated to processing used car batteries and other types of waste generated by electric vehicles.
In July of the same year, SK Nexilis, a South Korean manufacturer of copper foil used in electric car batteries, initiated the construction of a 3 billion zloty (€627 million) factory in the southeastern Polish city of Stalowa Wola.
Furthermore, in December, another major automobile manufacturer, Mercedes, unveiled a €1 billion investment plan to establish an exclusive factory in Poland for the production of electric vans.
