Landmark moment as Scania starts battery assembly

October 10, 2023

The transport industry is changing, with more and more electric trucks hitting the road. In line with this trend, Scania has inaugurated its battery assembly plant at its headquarters in Södertälje, Sweden. The start of operations at the new plant enables the serial production of heavy-duty premium electric vehicles.

Christian Levin, president and CEO of Scania and the Traton Group, is extremely proud of everyone at the company who has put their hearts and minds into getting the battery assembly plant up and running. “At Scania, we have made it our purpose to drive the shift towards a sustainable transport system. With the battery assembly in operation, we have one of the key enablers in place to accelerate the shift to electrification,” he says.

Top-performing cells to be assembled

By 2030, Scania wants electric vehicles to represent 50% of its sales. “The shift to electrified solutions is the biggest transformation in the history of transport, and 2023 is the year when it truly takes off. The proof points are being launched one by one and the 1.5-billion SEK investment in this new battery assembly is one of them,” Levin continues.

In April, Scania and Northvolt unveiled a jointly developed battery cell with outstanding performance and a uniquely low carbon footprint, designed specifically for heavy-duty transport. The cell is produced at the gigafactory Northvolt ETT in northern Sweden and is being assembled into packs at the new 18,000-m² plant in Södertälje, enabling the start of serial production of Scania’s premium electric trucks for regional transport.

Enabling large-scale production of electric vehicles

By locating the assembly plant adjacent to the chassis line in Södertälje, which was redesigned this summer for large-scale production of electric vehicles, the conditions for fast and efficient manufacturing flows are in place. The battery assembly will employ 550 Scania staff members and is highly automated, from incoming goods and throughout the production process to delivery.

“Despite a rapidly changing business landscape, our promise to always put our customers first remains,” says Marcus Holm, head of production and logistics at Scania. “Being premium means that we deliver solutions that are both of the highest quality and sustainable.

“The cell being assembled into modules and packs is a perfect example of this,” he continues. “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.”