Going green: Scania issues its first Green Bond, Volvo invests in EV charging software company

At the end of 2020, Scania received approval for the company’s framework for issuing green bond. About 30 Nordic banks, insurance companies and pension fund managers participated. The bidding resulted in Scania raising loans totalling 1.25 billion SEK with a 4-year maturity for investments that the company is making to convert to production of electric vehicles. The Green Bond Framework constitutes the basis for identifying, selecting, verifying and reporting projects that are eligible for financing by green bond proceeds.

Scania Green Bond: only for project with an impact on CO2 reduction 

The group’s carbon-reduction goals are set: from 2015, Scania decided to halve carbon emissions from its own operations by 2025 as well as reach a 20 percent reduction of CO2 emissions from its trucks, buses and engines when in use, which constitutes more than 95 percent of Scania’s environmental impact. The proceeds from Scania’s green bonds are exclusively channelled to projects that will have a profound impact in reducing CO2 emissions. These might include boosting the performance of heavy electric trucks and buses, e-bus based public transport systems and establishing an efficient charging infrastructure for electric trucks and buses.

Volvo investing in Driivz, EV charging software company

Another Swedish giant, Volvo, is moving forward towards cleaner and more sustainable projects. In particular, Volvo Group Venture Capital has invested in Driivz, a leading global EV charging software company which has developed a platform for managing large charging networks for electric vehicles from end-to-end.

The Driivz platform functions as an operating system for electric vehicle charging networks and is used by the operators of charging points, EV fleets and other key players in the ecosystem. The platform is scalable and modular, which makes it highly flexible and allows it to be customized.

A joint pilot project between Volvo Trucks, the Volvo Group and Driivz is ongoing with the aim of developing and testing new and innovative charging services to meet the specific needs of electric truck customers and drivers.

XCMG (China) relies on R&D to go greener

Finally, let’s move to China, where XCMG, a primary construction equipment manufacturer, has been weighing on new energy solutions to keep its business competitive in global market as well as more sustainable. Yan Lijuan, Director of XCMG Science and Technology Quality Department and Deputy Director of XCMG Technology Center, informs us that the company is «concerned with achieving breakthroughs of new energy adaptation and optimization in construction machinery» by «breaking through the bottleneck of technical problems, such as the R&D projects for batteries, electronic controls, motors and core components, as well as the general development goals of intelligent manufacturing». The technologies include the electric control panel, service life design of super-long booms and more have filled the industry’s gaps.

The results achieved so far

Such efforts have so far allowed XCMG to achieved substantial results, like the manufacturing of a range of electric forklifts, reach stacker and excavators. Besides, in 2020, XCMG debuted the industry’s largest-tonnage electric excavator XE270E and the largest electric drive loader in China.

Also, XCMG’s 35U-3 electric excavator launched in the same year lowered operational costs by 60 percent compared to conventional excavators, bringing a new driving force into high-quality development. Below, a video about the company’s participation to the latest edition of bauma China, at the end of 2020.