Scania starts battery pack assembly at Södertälje

Scania battery assembly plant (Photo: Scania)

Scania has reported the start of battery assembly at its Swedish headquarters in Södertälje. In a related statement, the OEM noted that the start of operations would ‘enable serial production of heavy-duty premium electric vehicles’.

“I am extremely proud of all colleagues who have put their hearts and minds into this,” said Christian Levin, president and CEO of Scania and Traton Group. “At Scania, we have made it our purpose to drive the shift towards a sustainable transport system. With the battery assembly in operations we have one of the key enablers in place to accelerate the shift to electrification.”

Christian Levin speaking at the battery plant opening ceremony (Photo: Scania)

In April this year, Scania and Northvolt unveiled a jointly-developed battery cell design intended for heavy-duty transport. The design is described as having ‘outstanding performance’ and ‘a uniquely low carbon footprint’.

The cell is being produced at the Northvolt ETT gigafactory in northern Sweden and these will be assembled into packs at the new 18,000 square metre plant in Södertälje.

The chassis line at the Södertälje plant was redesigned over the summer to support large-scale electric vehicle production. Having the pack assembly plant in close proximity will help to achieve efficient manufacturing flow. The highly-automated production line will have 550 Scania employees who will deal with incoming components, through to production and delivery.

Speaking about the new battery plant and what it means for Scania and its customers, Marcus Holm, head of Production and Logistics, commented: “Despite a rapidly changing business landscape, our promise to always put our customers first remains. Being premium means that we deliver solutions that are both of the highest quality - and sustainable.

“The cells being assembled into modules and packs is a perfect example of this. It has the capacity to power trucks for 1.5 million kilometres – equivalent to the truck’s lifetime. It is a privilege to drive change together with all our partners and customers.”

Scania is aiming to claim a 50% market share in the heavy-duty electric vehicle market by 2030.