Volkswagen commercial vehicle brand Scania announced that it will invest 1 billion Swedish kronor (approximately 100 million euros) to build a battery plant in Södertälje, Sweden.
In the future, this plant will be responsible for assembling cells purchased from the Northvolt Skelleftea battery plant into battery modules and battery packs. It is expected that the plant will begin construction in early 2021 and be put into operation in 2023. In May 2019, Scania CEO Henrik Henriksson confirmed in an interview that he had signed a purchase agreement with Northvolt. As of now, the company has not announced the specific delivery volume.
The Nanteliya battery factory is expected to cover an area of 18,000 square meters and will employ 200 employees, "most of them from within the company." In the future, the factory will need to assemble the batteries into battery packs and then cut them to fit the company's car modules. The battery pack will have a variety of uses, such as being suitable for electric buses, electric trucks or plug-in hybrid trucks, and then will be transported to nearby OEMs.
Ruthger de Vries, Director of Product and Logistics at Scania, said: "The construction of a battery factory clearly demonstrates our determination to lead the electrification of heavy vehicles, which will help us achieve our promised climate goals. Operating a battery factory is for mass production of electric vehicles. Necessary conditions, this also clearly shows that Scania is part of the battery production value chain."
In September, Scania launched an electric truck and plug-in hybrid truck, which are expected to be put into mass production in 2021. Both cars are based on the company's modular system and are equipped with L-series and P-series low-entry cabs suitable for urban operations.