Volvo says Holcim goes big on EV trucks

Volvo Trucks, which has its North American headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, has signed a letter of intent to sell 1,000 electric trucks between now and 2030 to Holcim, one of the world’s largest producers of cement, concrete and aggregates.

Volvo calls the deal the largest commercial order to date for Volvo electric trucks, and says the first 130 trucks will be delivered this year and into next. A Volvo news release indicates Holcim is expected to deploy all or most of the electric-powered trucks in Europe.

Holcim, which has its global headquarters in Switzerland, has a growing presence in the North American aggregates sector. In the past two years, it has acquired two aggregates materials companies based in Colorado and another in Virginia.

The U.S. office of Holcim (Holcim US), located in Chicago, refers to an asphalt recycling technique on a highway project in Utah as one example of its recycling activities. The firm also portrays an effort using shredded asphalt shingles as cement kiln feedstock in Michigan as another, and consuming nonrecyclable plastic, fiber and expired consumer products in a kiln in South Carolina as another.

Volvo says the agreement is part of a wider partnership between Holcim and Volvo Group. “Long-term collaboration and a strong commitment to really make a difference are essential for making big CO₂ reductions a reality,” Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt says

“The net-zero transition requires deep collaboration across value chains,” Holcim CEO Jan Jenisch says. “We are excited to be partnering with Volvo to decarbonize our European operations’ logistics with electric fleets, advancing our goal to reach 30 percent of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks by 2030.”