Volvo is aiming to manufacture a concept car made entirely of fossil-free steel.
The automaker is teaming up with another Swedish company, steel manufacturer SSAB, to design a type of steel that can be produced without the use of coal.
“The collaboration makes Volvo Cars the first car maker to work with SSAB and its HYBRIT initiative, the steel industry’s most ambitious and advanced projects in fossil-free steel development,” the company said Wednesday in a press release.
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SSAB’s HYBRIT initiative uses “fossil-free” hydrogen and electricity to create steel with no carbon footprint, the first of its kind. SSAB plans to produce a supply ready for broad commercial use in 2026, though Volvo gave no specific date for when the car is set to be produced.
Steel production accounts for 7% of total global carbon emissions, according to the release.
In terms of the total carbon emissions in producing Volvo vehicles, the creation of steel and iron to build the automobile accounts for 35% in a traditionally powered car and 20% in an electric car.
Volvo aims to produce exclusively electric cars by 2030, part of a larger plan to reduce emissions by 40% by 2025 and reach carbon neutrality by 2040.
The company is not certain if the switch to HYBRIT steel will raise the cost of its cars, but it does believe customers value sustainability, said Chief Procurement Officer Kerstin Enochsson.
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Polestar, an electric subsidiary of Volvo, aims to create a carbon-neutral car by 2030. Fisker, an American company, plans to reach the same goal by 2027.
