Volvo aims to create a climate-neutral city by 2030

With the aim of achieving a climate-neutral city by 2030, Volvo Cars teams up with the City of Gothenburg in Sweden for the creation of new urban zones that will be used as testbeds for future sustainable technologies.

The initiative, called Gothenburg Green City Zone, aims to establish an area inside Scandinavia’s largest port city that is completely emission-free, with a variety of climate-neutral transportation modes and a connected infrastructure.

Using a real city as a testing ground will enable Volvo to accelerate development of technologies and services in the areas of electrification, shared mobility, autonomous driving, connectivity and safety. As part of the testbed, Volvo plans to run robotaxis operated by its fully owned mobility provider, M, within the zone.

Examples of technologies to be tested include geo-enabling solutions and services ensuring that cars in the zone operate in electric-only mode and remain within speed limits, as well as traffic infrastructure that can connect to active safety features in cars and share information between road users.

“We want to use our knowledge and technology to help create a future city that is electrified, connected, shared and climate-neutral,” said Henrik Green, Chief Technology Officer at Volvo Cars. “This is an opportunity to lead by example: by testing new technologies and services in a live large-scale environment, we can show that if it is possible here, it is possible anywhere.”

Other potential examples include fully electric mobility hubs; a complete, easy-to-use charging network for electric cars; and autonomous taxis.

The main obstacle to climate transition is not a lack of climate-friendly and smart technologies, but the capacity to implement them. The transformation requires a holistic approach to foster innovation and a deep and continuous collaboration between all stakeholders.

The Green City Zone initiative starts in spring 2021 and will gradually scale up going forward.