Volvo Group has been selected as the winning bidder in an auction for Proterra Inc and Proterra Operating Company Inc, with the Sweden-based company set to spend on assets including a development centre for battery modules and packs in California, and an assembly factory in South Carolina.

The business and assets of the Proterra Powered business unit come with a purchase price of $210 million and follow the voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy move made by Proterra Inc. and Proterra Operating Company Inc in August.

Proterra, an electric vehicle focused company, has been collaborating with Komatsu on the development of battery-electric LHDs, drills and bolters for underground hard-rock mining. Last year, the two companies showcased a 20-ton (18-t) class electric hydraulic excavator equipped with a lithium-ion battery system for the first time at bauma 2022, in Munich, Germany, with the machine representing the first electrically-powered solution to come out of joint development work on electric medium-sized hydraulic excavators.

Volvo Group says the transaction will complement the current, and accelerate its future, battery-electric road map.

The transaction between Proterra Inc. and Proterra Operating Company as sellers and Volvo is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court in the US. In addition, closing of the transaction, which is expected early 2024, will be subject to merger clearance and certain other conditions.