Swedish automobile manufacturing company Volvo has confirmed that it is designing and developing its own electric motors for EVs at a new dedicated electric-motor lab in Shanghai. The company headquartered in Gothenburg has always been on forefront in terms of innovation.

The automaker said in an official press release that the new electric-motor lab in Shanghai will work in concert with Volvo’s existing center in Sweden, and allow the future motor development to be done in-house. Volvo Cars CTO Henrik Green said that in-house designing and development would allow the company to fine-tune its e-motors to ever better levels.

Speaking on the topic, Mr. Green said, “Through in-house design and development, we can fine-tune our e-motors to ever better levels. By constantly improving their overall performance levels in terms of energy efficiency and comfort, we create an electric driving experience that is unique to Volvo.”

In 2019, Mr. Green had told reporters that electric motors for the two of its EVs, viz. the 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge and 2021 Polestar 2 EV, were designed and developed in-house. Designing and developing electric motors for EVs in-house will surely trim down the company’s dependence on other electric motor makers, saving time as well as money.

At the time, he also stressed that the company wanted to keep the designing and development internal for the future. As both models are based on the identical Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform, they share a number of components, including electric motors.

The Recharge is the first mass-market EV from the Volvo brand. With EPA-rated 208-mile range, it is nearly 50 per cent less than the rival Tesla Model Y. With a 233-mile range, the Polestar 2 EV also failed to boast a much better performance. Thus, there is big room for improvement when it comes to the range and efficiency of these two EVs.

The company’s Shanghai motor lab will initially focus on designing and developing electric motors for electric cars and plug-in hybrids based on the new SPA2 platform. The first model to be based on the new SPA2 platform will be the next-generation Volvo XC90 sports utility vehicle (SUV), which will reportedly get an all-electric Recharge variant.

Meanwhile, the company is reportedly also busy in developing an all-electric flagship SUV, called XC100 Recharge, which would sit above the XC90 in the lineup. However, the XC90 is not expected to hit the roads until 2023.