Scania has begun EV battery assembly at its Swedish headquarters in Södertälje, allowing commercial production of heavy-duty electric vehicles, a key step toward the company’s goal of 50% sales of electric vehicles in 2030.

“With the battery assembly in operations we have one of the key enablers in place to accelerate the shift to electrification," said Christian Levin, president and CEO of Scania and Traton Group. The company has invested some $135 million into the new battery assembly plant.

“The shift to electrified solutions is the biggest transformation in the history of transport, and 2023 is the year when it truly takes off,” he said.

In April, Scania and Northvolt unveiled a jointly developed battery cell designed for heavy-duty transport, which the companies said offers outstanding performance and a low carbon footprint. The cell is produced at the gigafactory Northvolt ETT in northern Sweden and starting Sept. 5 will be assembled into packs at the new 193,750-square-foot plant in Södertälje, enabling the start of serial production of Scania’s electric trucks for regional transport.

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, according to Scania. The battery assembly will employ 550 and is highly automated, from incoming goods throughout production to delivery.

"Despite a rapidly changing business landscape, our promise to always put our customers first remains,” said 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. It has the capacity to power trucks for 1.5 million kilometers [about 932,000 miles]— equivalent to the truck's lifetime.”