“I am pleased to celebrate this momentous occasion with our employees here in Ghent,” says head of global production operations at Volvo, Geert Bruyneel. “As the first of our plants to get a battery assembly line, Ghent plays a pioneering role as we continue to prepare our manufacturing network for electrification.”

Volvo says the updated Ghent factory will provide important lessons to the brand’s other manufacturing sites in terms of process optimization and efficiency.

Earlier this year, the automaker revealed it will construct a battery assembly line at its U.S. plant outside Charleston, South Carolina, with work at the site set to kick off this fall. Volvo has also confirmed it will build battery-powered electric vehicles at a plant in Luqiao, China. This facility will also handle the production of select Polestar and Lynk & Co models that share Volvo’s CMA platform.

Volvo will source its batteries from CATL of China and South Korea’s LG Chem. The company’s first all-electric model was unveiled in October last year in the form of the XC40 Recharge. The SUV uses a pair of electric motors delivering a combined 402 hp and features a 78 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that provides more than 249 miles of range on the WLTP cycle.