Volvo Trucks ropes in SSAB for fossil-free steel

A year after Volvo Cars teamed up with Swedish steel maker SSAB to jointly explore the development of fossil-free, high-quality steel, Volvo Trucks, will become the world's first truck manufacturer to use fossil-free steel in its trucks. SSAB, a Sweden based steel company will be producing and providing the steel for Volvo's heavy duty electric trucks along with Volvo Cars. 

The steel will be first used in the truck’s frame rails and as the availability of fossil-free steel increases, it will also be introduced in other parts of the truck. 

Fossil-free steel will be made by a completely new technology using fossil-free electricity and hydrogen. The result will be a much lower climate impact and a fossil-free value chain. The steel industry considers that the need for steel will grow significantly in the long-term and that newly made fossil-free steel will be needed to meet this demand. Small scale introduction of this steel in Volvo's heavy electric trucks will start in the third quarter of 2022. The ‘Hybrit’ technology was started by SSAB, iron ore producer LKAB and energy firm Vattenfall. It aims to replace coking coal, traditionally needed for iron ore-based steelmaking, with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen. The result is expected to be the world’s first fossil-free steelmaking technology, with virtually no carbon footprint. SSAB aims to supply this steel commercially from 2026. 

Jessica Sandstrom, Senior Vice President Product Management, Volvo Trucks said, “We will increase the use of fossil-free materials in all our trucks to make them net-zero not only in operation – but also when it comes to the materials they are built of.”

As of now, around 30 percent of the materials in a new Volvo truck come from recycled materials. And up to 90 percent of the truck can be recycled at the end of its life. “We are continuously striving to further minimize our climate footprint. We are also moving towards greater circularity in both our operations and our trucks,” Jessica added.

Volvo Trucks is committed to the Paris agreement and to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the value-chain by 2040, at the latest.

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