Scania Battery Assembly Plant in Sodertalje, Sweden. (Erika Gerdemark/Bloomberg)
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Swedish truck maker Scania CV AB is ramping up production of electric rigs now that previously delayed batteries from Northvolt AB have begun arriving in greater numbers at its factory in Sodertalje.
“It’s still moving slowly, but we’re getting there,” said Tony Persson, head of Scania’s new battery assembly plant. “The important thing is that we have started.”
After inaugurating its factory in September, Scania only began production in the new year as Northvolt struggled to deliver the cells it had promised. Persson said Scania now receives 16,000 to 20,000 cells per week from Northvolt, enough to produce roughly 20 electric trucks.
Scania’s facility — where cells from Northvolt are assembled into modules and battery packs — is a key part of helping the truck maker reach a target of electrifying 50% of its fleet by 2030. So far, Scania has produced battery packs for almost 100 electric trucks.
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“It’s absolutely true that we are running somewhat behind our original plan,” Persson said, adding that “things are going quite well right now.”
Scania, founded in 1900 as a bicycle factory in Southern Sweden, is a key brand within Volkswagen AG’s Traton SE, having been fully acquired by the German automotive group in 2008. Traton CEO Christian Levin warned in April that electric rigs could face stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers thanks to their expertise in batteries and software.
To counter such threats Northvolt has been hailed as Europe’s best hope for a homegrown supply chain for batteries. However, Levin singled out the battery maker during an earnings call in October, when he partly blamed the company’s missed electrification milestones on the challenges of getting cells delivered on time.
An influx of cheaper batteries from China, as well as weaker demand for passenger EVs in Europe, hasn’t hurt the prospects for Northvolt, according to its Chief Financial Officer Alexander Hartman. A focus on premium batteries such as those for Scania’s trucks has buffered the company from a downturn in the broader EV market, he said.
“It’s not affecting us much,” Hartman said in an interview. “In our segment, there is less price pressure than in the mass market segment where there is more competition from Asia.”
It’s a view echoed by Scania’s Persson, who said Northvolt is producing the “greenest” batteries on the market, adding that he has yet to find a better battery for heavy commercial vehicles.
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