Scania rejuvenates urban battery electric truck range

Swedish truck maker Scania has ‘rejuvenated’ its urban battery truck range in line with the regional range, with a new e-chassis, auxiliary systems, and batteries from Northvolt assembled in packs in Scania’s new battery assembly plant in Södertälje. It also adds a new electric machine called EM C1-4, combining a single permanent magnet motor with a four-speed gearbox.

Scania expects the latter, offered in five different power outputs of 270, 300, 330, 360, and 400kW, to become the most popular option. All Scania battery electric trucks (BETs) now benefit from the Northvolt cells, which should last 1,5 million kilometers, equivalent to a truck’s lifetime.

Lasting 1,5 million kilometers

The truck maker is particularly confident in its batteries’ capacities. “One of the main strengths of the batteries is their charging characteristics. Unlike other battery packs, Scania’s batteries can be repeatedly charged up to 100% of their state of charge (SOC) window without impacting their lifespan.”

Scania and Northvolt started the development of this new battery cell for heavy commercial vehicles in 2017. The result is a prismatic battery cell with a capacity of 157 Ah, a voltage of 3,6 V, and, the most essential requirement from Scania, a lifetime of 1,5 million km.

Most have the range needed

Fredrik Allard, Head of E-Mobility at Scania, believes “that charging will be less problematic when people learn more about how batteries work. When we analyze operational patterns, it’s evident that the vast majority have the range they need.”

“The fact that some customers remain cautious and limit themselves to ordering a couple of trucks for their fleets is fully understandable since they want to gain experience first. But with our growing portfolio and an expanding infrastructure, Scania’s 2030 target of 50% of all trucks sold in Europe will be battery electric is within reach.”

Talking about range, Scania’s BETs are offered as trailer tractors or rigid trucks featuring battery packs of 624 kWh (installed), 468 kWh (usable), offering ranges up to 350 km range at 40 tons of gross trailer weight (GTW), and 250 km range at 64 t GTW. They can be fully charged in less than 90 minutes at 375 kW / 500 A DC.