Scania to invest in Swedish battery R&D and assembly hub

The company has announced plans to invest up to SEK1 billion (EUR100 million) in the construction a highly automated 18,000m2 battery assembly plant in Södertälje. Construction will start in early 2021 with the aim of becoming fully operational by 2023.

The plant will assemble battery modules and packs from cells which will be delivered from Northvolt’s battery factory in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The assembled packs form battery systems tailored for Scania’s modular production.

The plant will be built near Scania’s chassis assembly plant in Södertälje, which will begin series production of electric trucks in 2021.

The investment extends Volkswagen Group’s investment in battery technology with Northvolt: Volkswagen Group announced an investment of EUR450 million in a second battery factory, Northvolt Zwei, in Salzgitter, Saxony, in May 2020.

“This is a tangible manifestation of our determination to take a leading role in heavy vehicle electrification, which is needed to fulfil our commitment to science-based climate targets,” says Ruthger de Vries, Head of Production and Logistics at Scania. “Operating an on-site battery assembly plant is a prerequisite for large-scale production of electric vehicles and it also establishes Scania clearly as a part of the battery production value chain.”

Meanwhile, Scania is continuing to develop hybrid and fully electric solutions for marine engines. The company announced concepts in June 2020.

Scania battery laboratory

Scania is also investing a further EUR15.5 million in a new battery laboratory at its research and development facilities in Södertälje.

Ground was broken on the 1,000m2 laboratory recently and building works will be completed by spring 2021. The laboratory is expected to be fully operational by autumn 2021.

The laboratory will contain three 250m2 test halls for battery cells, modules and packs. Adjacent to these halls, the laboratory will also have facilities for test sample preparation in order to improve work environment, safety and testing uptime.

The laboratory will primarily focus on battery performance and lifespan evaluation in varying climate conditions from -40°C to 70°C. Scania’s engineers will examine and identify the best operational conditions for the battery with regard to, for example, temperature setpoint, state of charge window and charging power profile for tailored utilisation in optimising battery life and customer needs.

The new battery laboratory will complement a smaller facility with a climatic chamber for battery pack testing that was taken into use earlier this year. With this lab, Scania can test the performance of battery packs on operational electric trucks and buses without removing batteries. Vehicles are parked adjacent to the lab and connected to testing equipment.