Major vehicle manufacturer Scania is looking to change the heavy-duty electric vehicle game in Europe as new trucks enter production.
Scania’s production of its new range of battery-electric zero-emission vehicles is focusing squarely on increasing range and charging capacity for its electric trucks.
After first presenting its next level of vehicles in June of 2022, the company has taken orders for what it says is a “solid” order book of trucks.
Production is getting underway at Scania’s factory in Södertälje, Sweden for trucks with R and S cabs with either 400 or 450 kW of engine power.
The vehicle manufacturer is working alongside Swedish manufacturer Northvolt, which is providing cells for the trucks, which Scania says leave approximately one-third less of a carbon footprint compared to an industry reference.
Scania says the batteries can be charged repeatedly up to 100 per cent of the SOC-window without any impact on their lifespan, with a straight charging curve, giving owners predictable charge times.
“We believe that charging issues will be regarded as less problematic when people learn more about how batteries work in reality,” Scania senior vice president and head of e-mobility Fredrik Allard says.
“When we analyse operational patterns, it often becomes evident that the vast majority have all the range they need, with a margin.
“Tippers and other kinds of rigid-based applications often do fewer than 200 kilometres per day when operating in urban areas. If they charge at their home depot and join Scania Charging Access (SCA) for back-up, range would not be an issue for them.”
SCA is a service that the company will offer owners of the battery electric vehicles (BEVs) convenient access to charging stations in an expanding network.
Announced earlier in 2023, SCA has recently become open to use across Europe. It offers a Europe-wide charging network across 12 countries for electric Scania owners.
Customers using SCA will only received one invoice from Scania, lacking any sign-up or monthly fees.
Head of charging solutions Magnus Hoglund says the company is aiming to innovate global use of heavy BEVs in the transport industry.
“We are pioneering a consolidated service for heavy vehicles in Europe,” he says.
“It is primarily designed for en-route charging, our mission is to enable and simplify for true electrification by taking out every-thing from range anxiety to administrative grievances from the equation and offering truck-ready charge points.
“We assess and rank all existing charge points manually, both the ones for heavy vehicles and those for passenger cars.
“This helps us identify the ones that are beneficial for our customers until there is a significant number and an extensive network dedicated solely to heavy vehicles.
“It will continuously expand during 2024 and onwards, when charging operators like Milence and others are up to speed.
“By using the Scania Driver App or My Scania, charge points that are ranked by us as truck-ready, and their availability, can be filtered out. We are continuously adding both new functionalities and more charging operators to the service.”