Sweden’s testbed for electromobility opens in Gothenburg

SEEL, the Swedish Electric Transport Laboratory, is officially open. The new state-of-the-art facilities, a SEK 1.3 billion investment, will help Sweden remain at the forefront of innovations in the transport sector.

4 September 2023

Bred samverkan ligger bakom starten av testbädden SEEL. Från vänster: Bo Andrén, Scania, Ulrika Toftevik, CEVT, Henrik Svenningstorp, SEEL, Martin Nilsson Jacobi, Chalmers, Ebba Busch, energi- och näringsminister, Pia Sandvik, RISE, Anders Bell, Volvo Cars och Martin Lundstedt, Volvo Group.

Several hundred people were on site for the opening held in Gothenburg on 1 September, including Sweden’s Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, and representatives from the region’s automotive cluster.

“Sweden has a proud tradition within the automotive sector and SEEL further strengthens our country’s competitiveness. The testing and research conducted here will play a key role in the transition to an electrified transport system. SEEL will enable the Swedish transport sector to lead the global transition towards greater sustainability,” said Ebba Busch, Sweden’s Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, in a statement.

Open to international companies

SEEL is owned by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and Chalmers University of Technology. It consists of three separate facilities located in Gothenburg, Borås and Nykvarn. It is an open testbed where companies from Europe and the rest of the world can pursue research and development.

The testbed fulfils a great need in the transport sector, and CEVT, Scania, Volvo Cars and the Volvo Group are active initiative partners who will pursue development activities at the three facilities.

“SEEL’s goal is to increase the rate at which knowledge is amassed as well as to encourage greater collaboration to speed up the development of electrified transport. The three testbed facilities will enable industry, institutes and academia to test the new technologies and safety required by new means of electrified transport,” said Henrik Svenningstorp, CEO of SEEL, in a statement.

Gothenburg – leading the way in electromobility

SEEL’s head office and largest facility, covering a combined area of 13,000 sqm, are located at Gateway Säve in Gothenburg.

“The new testbed complements our knowledge cluster within Gothenburg in a defining way. It will also help us establish a sustainable and competitive value chain for batteries, not only in Sweden, but across all of Europe,” says Patrik Andersson, CEO at Business Region Göteborg.

“That the head office and main facility are located in Gothenburg will help attract companies to our region from across the world. We are already seeing this.”

Gothenburg, which has long been the automotive capital of Sweden, has become a hotspot for electric mobility. Progressive brands including Volvo Cars, the Volvo Group, Polestar, Einride, Heart Aerospace, Stena Line, CEVT and NovoEnergy are headquartered and/or carrying out research and development here. In addition, Gothenburg and western Sweden have a fast-growing battery ecosystem, which in the coming years will feature, among other things, two battery gigafactories.

We are here to help

Want to learn more about business and collaboration opportunities in Gothenburg and how we can help you tap into our automotive and mobility ecosystem? Don't hesitate to contact Joel Görsch, our investment advisor for automotive and mobility (joel.gorsch@businessregion.se // +46 31 367 61 11).

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