Volvo and Geely partner to share EV technology

Volvo Cars and Chinese car group Geely Holding are partnering to set up a company to share and accelerate future EV technology

The Memorandum of Understanding will see the two companies and LYNK & CO share vehicle architecture and engine technologies via cross-licensing arrangements. They will also work together to source components and cut procurement costs.

“Partnerships to share know-how and technologies are common practice in the automotive industry. This is the model we are adopting,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars. “This planned collaboration will strengthen Volvo’s ability to develop next-generation electrified cars.”

Volvo Cars and Geely already share technology, most notably the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform that is being used by Volvo Cars for its future smaller range of 40 series cars and by LYNK & CO.

The intellectual property rights for the technology to be shared will remain with the company that developed it, but the technology itself will be available for use by Volvo, Geely Auto and LYNK & CO, via license agreements.

Future modular vehicle architectures and other technology will be shared and developed based on cost-sharing agreements. The company leading the development will own the technology and the other group companies will have full access to it through a license, reducing overall development costs.

It is expected that the collaboration will extend in future to also cover electrified vehicle components such as battery cells, e-motors and charging systems in order to maximise synergies across the group.