Volvo is Building a New EV Service and Training Facility at its U.S. Headquarters in New Jersey To Fast Track its Electrification Plans

author: Manish Kharinta   

Sweden's Volvo Cars and its all-electric sub-brand Polestar are stirring up a lot of excitement in the auto industry. Polestar recently reported record sales in Q1 2022 and the company credits the growing popularity of electric vehicles as the reason behind its success. Volvo's battery-only offerings like the C40 and XC40 Recharge also made their global debut to much fanfare.

Volvo aims to become an all-electric brand by 2030. Over the next few years, the automaker intends to launch five battery-electric and two plug-in hybrid models. However, in order to accomplish its ambitious targets Volvo also needs to scale its service facilities to support a growing fleet of EVs.

The automaker recently announced that it will build a new training and technical facility named the "Volvo Car Americas Technical and Training Center" at its U.S. headquarters in Mahwah, New Jersey. Volvo's first U.S. headquarters opened in 1956 in nearby Newark, NJ.

Roughly 340 employees currently work at Volvo's headquarters in NJ.

The Volvo Car Americas Technical and Training Center will house a multi-vehicle workshop and classrooms where service technicians will learn the latest diagnostic and service procedures for all Volvo models, including plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, according to Volvo.

"With this new investment in North Jersey, hundreds of jobs will be created in our community over the coming years, helping Jersey residents and our local economy," said NJ Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony on June 17. "It will make North Jersey the center of Volvo's EV training for the entire Western Hemisphere."

Volvo is also adding 50 EV chargers at the 20-acre site. Both customers and Volvo employees will have access to the new chargers, but the automaker also intends to open its new charging facility to the public soon. Volvo says the EV chargers will serve the increasing number of employees and visitors that are driving plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles.

In addition to training Volvo technicians, the new facility will also educate Volvo's retailers about its electric vehicles to better serve its customers. 

"We are so proud to be expanding our Volvo Car Americas footprint in Mahwah," said Anders Gustafsson, Senior Vice President Americas and President and CEO, Volvo Car USA. "As we continue down the path to become the fastest transformer in the industry, this beautiful new facility anchored around sustainability will further train and educate our retailers and service technicians from across the region on our electrified future."

The Volvo Car Americas Technical and Training Center will also be a sustainable facility. The building is being designed to be LEED Gold certified. It will feature a 15-kW solar panel system, high efficiency HVAC and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. 

The Volvo Cars Americas headquarters building, located within the same campus, is also LEED Gold certified.

Volvo will beat General Motors by five years if it succeeds in becoming an all-electric brand by decade's end. The automaker is also evaluating other ways to accelerate its electrification plans. 

Earlier this year, Volvo announced its building a public electric vehicle charging network that will connect the cities of Seattle, Washington and Denver, Colorado. The EV chargers will be located at Starbucks locations along the 1350-mile route and will allow EV drivers to travel between the two cities without having to worry about running out of juice.

Volvo Cars also said it will install up to 60 Volvo-branded, ChargePoint DC fast chargers at up to 15 Starbucks locations along the route between Denver and Seattle. The Starbucks charging network will be available to drivers of all EVs, but Volvo customers can use the chargers for free. 

Volvo is also developing a wireless charging concept at its global headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. Among the projects, taxi cabs based on the Volvo XC40 Recharge SUV will use charging pads to replenish their battery packs wirelessly. The experimental charging pads in development can recharge the XC40's batteries four times faster than standard AC chargers, making them almost as quick as a DC fast charger.

Manish Kharinta

Manish Kharinta is a automotive writer based in the Los Angeles area. He has worked for automotive industry websites TheSmokingClutch.com, CarDekho.com and CarBikeindia.com. His experience ranges from covering auto shows, to car reviews and breaking automotive news. Manish aims to bring forth his unique perspective on automotive design and technological innovations in the automotive industry.