Renowned Swedish auto manufacturer AB Volvo has released its first vehicle made with “green steel” that contains no fossil fuel, and now the company will be releasing more green concept-driven models in 2022.
The latest truck of AB Volvo is an electric dump truck used for the mining industry and quarries, which weighs at 8 metric tons, while the prototype is formed with over 3,000kg of new steel. Volvo commented that steel and cast iron form approximately 70% of the weight of these trucks.
Lars Stenqvist, Executive Vice President of Volvo Group Trucks Technology, commented that the company aims to manufacture a relatively small truck using the advanced steel material that contains no fossil fuel, which is not done to prove or demonstrate a certain technological study or plan, but just to merely attain production in batches.
These eco-friendly steel that contains no fossil fuel come from the Swedish steel maker SSAB, who joined hands with energy company Vattenfall and LKAB Minerals in 2016 on forming the Hybrit program (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology), which replaces coking coal required by traditional steelmaking with green hydrogen. The trial factory had initiated in September 2020, and delivered the first batch of green steel to Volvo on August 18th this year. Apart from Volvo, Mercedes-Benz AG and Cargotec Oyj are also their clients.
However, this dump truck is yet to contain 100% green steel. Stenqvist commented that SSAB is still unable to produce steel of certain geometric shapes, such as cylindrical shafts, though most existing components, especially the scoop at the latter half of the truck, are made with green steel.
The steel of SSAB is similar to traditional steel, and can be directly adopted in all manufacturing plants of Volvo, who is also planning to attain the target of carbon neutrality by 2040. Volvo under the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is scheduled to release a concept car made with green steel in 2025 at the earliest.
(Cover photo source: Volvo)