Volvo Cuts Battery Testing Time With New Simulation App

Delivery trucks are going electric, but there's been one stubborn problem: batteries that can't handle the long highway drives needed for modern shipping.

A team including Volvo Trucks just solved that challenge with a clever simulation app that makes designing better batteries dramatically faster. The three-year LaserBATMAN project wrapped up in May 2025 with a tool that helps engineers test battery performance in minutes instead of months.

The secret lies in how batteries are welded together. When connecting battery cells with metal strips called busbars, the laser welding process can make or break battery life. Get it right, and your battery lasts for years. Get it wrong, and the battery degrades quickly.

Denmark-based engineering firm Resolvent built the app using advanced modeling software. Engineers can now input dimensions, temperature conditions, and charging patterns to see exactly how a battery pack will perform over time. They can even adjust the laser welding depth and busbar thickness to find the perfect sweet spot.

The app includes what one team member calls "a tool within a tool." This special feature lets designers test what happens if the welding isn't perfect during manufacturing. That kind of real-world thinking means batteries that work reliably in actual production, not just in the lab.

The deep technical insights are already paying off. Engineers discovered they could potentially use two fewer battery cells per pack while maintaining the same performance just by improving cooling. That means lighter trucks, lower costs, and the same range.

The Ripple Effect

This breakthrough arrives at exactly the right moment. Companies are racing to electrify their delivery fleets to cut fuel costs and carbon emissions, but battery reliability has held them back from committing to long-haul electric trucks.

Now that Volvo's R&D teams can rapidly test battery designs, they can create packs robust enough for the hundreds of miles delivery trucks drive daily. The consortium included universities and innovation agencies from Denmark and Sweden, meaning the technology could spread across the entire European trucking industry.

Better batteries mean cleaner air in communities along major shipping routes. They mean lower operating costs for delivery companies. And they mean the two-day shipping we've come to expect can happen without the environmental cost.

The project brought together Aurobay, the Technical University of Denmark, Innovation Fund Denmark, and Sweden's innovation agency to tackle a problem no single company could solve alone. Their collaboration turned a manufacturing challenge into a competitive advantage that could reshape how goods move across continents.