Sweden-based vehicle manufacturer Volvo Car Group will join hands with South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. to develop future vehicles such as self-driving and electric cars with an aim to expand its presence in the burgeoning new-generation vehicle market.
Volvo is most likely to establish a strategic partnership with LG Electronics to co-develop key technologies from an early stage rather than simply receive related components from the Korean tech giant.
According to multiple industry sources on Friday, Hakan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Car Group, visited LG Electronics’ campus in Cheongna, Incheon, where the company’s vehicle components division is located. Samuelsson, who arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, met with Lee Woo-jong, chief executive and president of vehicle components division at LG Electronics and toured around the campus and research and development facilities.
Industry observers believe there is a great chance of Volvo and LG Electronics working together in the field of future cars. An unnamed industry official said that LG Electronics is not yet much equipped with high technology when it comes to self-driving vehicles, and establishing a strategic partnership with Volvo would allow both companies to be in a win-win situation.
Volvo plans to launch an all-electric vehicle in 2019 with a range of 500 kilometers or more on a full charge. It is pinning on LG to become its electronics pillar. Moreover, LG Chem is a leader in electric vehicle battery technology.
LG Electronics have collaborated with General Motors to develop and supply 11 key components and systems including driving motors and inverter battery packs for GM's fully electric Chevrolet Bolt. With 400 kilometers range on a full charge, the Bolt is gaining industry attention as it is competitively priced at $30,000 and raises the bar on price and range for mass production electric cars.
Key management officials at Volvo’s parent company Zhejiang Geely Holding of China also met with LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo last month and visited the company’s vehicle component division in Incheon.
California is currently the only U.S. state where hydrogen fuel-cell cars are available for purchase. If various interested parties have their way, it could also be the only state to boast fuel-cell ferries. Last year, Sandia National Laboratories and the Red and White Fleet ferry company announced plans to design and build a "high-speed"... 
Which electric-car naysayer may have relented, at least just a tiny bit? What will Volkswagen do with the TDI diesel cars it's about to start buying back? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, November 4, 2016. Friday, we updated our report on October electric-car... 
Today, we have the results of our latest poll, which asked whether Tesla Motors should report monthly sales, as other carmakers do. We also have an update on October 2016 plug-in electric car sales, and the unlikely winner of a U.K. fuel-economy challenge. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Indian automaker Mahindra may export a new four-door... 
To those of us who cover the world of electric cars, Tesla's refusal to release its sales data in the conventional format is a continual irritant. Starting in June 2012, when the company said it didn't plan to release monthly sales because its backers didn't care, Tesla Motors has provided only partial data. While it started releasing quarterly... 
The Ford Mustang isn't usually the first vehicle that comes to mind when thinking about fuel-efficient cars. But a new Mustang recently won the title of most-improved fuel economy in a U.K. gas-mileage marathon. It wasn't a Mustang EcoBoost, the 2.3-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder model introduced to provide at least somewhat more-efficient... 
Indian automaker Mahindra is little known in the U.S., but it is one of the larger players in its home market. Mahindra's Indian-market lineup is mostly made up of trucks and SUVs, but it also sells the tiny Reva e2o electric car. It recently unveiled a new four-door hatchback version, called the e2o Plus, that will be sold alongside the existing... 
Today, find out what Volkswagen plans to do with the diesel cars it reacquires in buybacks, how the White House plans to stimulate deployment of zero-emission vehicles, and how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) judges automakers' performance in meeting fuel-economy standards. All this and more on Green Car Reports. See why the head of the... ![The White House, Washington, D.C. [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/white-house_100170583_t.gif)
The White House today announced a range of actions intended to stimulate and speed up the deployment of zero-emission electric vehicles in the U.S. It took these actions, it said, as part of its efforts to "combat climate change, increase access to clean-energy technologies, and reduce our dependence on oil." Today's announcements are part of "a...