Scania & Northvolt Announce New Battery For Heavy-Duty Trucks

Scania, the heavy truck maker that becomes part of Volkswagen Group, and Northvolt state they have actually collaborated to develop a battery for durable electrical trucks that will last as long as the lorries themselves– about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles). That is very important to assure heavy truck consumers that changing batteries will not become part of the electrical truck experience.

The world depends upon durable trucks– tractor trailers, box vans, garbage trucks, discard trucks, fire truck, and so forth– to carry out the majority of the jobs required to get items to market. No trucks, no commerce. The diesel motor is the unrecognized hero of the world’s freight and freight markets. Its main function is an abundance of low-speed torque to get greatly loaded lorries moving from rest. Electric motors likewise have great deals of low-speed torque. In reality, they establish their optimum torque at absolutely no rpm, that makes them perfect for usage in any truck developed to bring heavy loads.

The issue is, diesel motors produce rather a great deal of co2, oxides of nitrogen, and great particle matter that gush from their exhaust stacks into the environment. It holds true that there are artificial fuels that can change standard diesel, however there is extremely little such fuel offered and it typically costs more than regular diesel fuel made from oil. Plus, there’s still some contamination from burning it.

The Scania– Northvolt Battery

In a joint news release, Scania and Northvolt state that in recognition tests, the lithium-ion cell they have actually established together has actually shown an impressive helpful life which will allow battery packs made from those cells to power trucks for 1.5 million kilometers– comparable to a truck’s entire life time. Produced with zero-emissions electrical energy, the cell’s carbon footprint is roughly one 3rd that of a relative market referral.

The partnership in between Scania and Northvolt started in 2017 when the 2 business signed up with forces to establish and advertise an industry-leading battery cell for heavy business lorries. Now the collaboration and its close partnership have actually concerned fulfillment, as the long-duration cell is being produced at the Northvolt Ett gigafactory in northern Sweden. Scania states it will inaugurate a brand-new battery factory in Södertälje, Sweden, where battery cells will be put together into battery packs for the start of production of durable electrical trucks.

A brand-new super-sized electrical truck from Scania is striking the roadway in Norway. Picture thanks to Scania.

Peter Carlsson, CEO and co-founder of Northvolt, stated in journalism release, “At the start of this collaboration, Northvolt and Scania accepted an enthusiastic timeline for the advancement of a high-performance battery cell which would allow their prepare for electrifying heavy transportation. To have actually continued through comprehensive advancement and recognition stages, and now be providing cells from Northvolt Ett which surpass our preliminary expectations in regards to efficiency is a remarkable achievement for everybody included.”

” Today marks a turning point on the course towards a sustainable transportation system. The future of heavy transportation is electrical, and to allow the shift and to continue providing on our brand name guarantee towards consumers to be premium, Scania requires top-performing battery cells for our electrical trucks,” Scania CEO Christian Levin included. “As the advancement of the battery cell began, we targeted high efficiency, low operating expense and long life time. We picked a requirement for the cell to allow a 1.5 million kilometers long life time for a sturdy Scania lorry. The tests reveal that this requirement can not just be satisfied, however likewise went beyond.”

As part of the Northvolt’s dedication to developing a supply of sustainable cells, Northvolt Ett is powered by 100% fossil-fuel-free electrical energy produced by hydropower and wind power. Due to the fossil-free energy and combination of extra sustainable production functions at Northvolt Ett, the approximated carbon footprint of the cell at complete serial production is roughly one 3rd that of a relative market referral cell!

” Northvolt’s objective to develop the world’s greenest batteries matches Scania’s function to drive the shift towards sustainable transportation completely. I’m really anticipating putting the last puzzle pieces together ahead of the liftoff of premium electrical lorries later on this year,” stated Levin.

Here are the cell specs supplied by the business in their joint news release:

• Cell format: Prismatic
• Capability: 157 Ah
• Small voltage: 3.6 V
• Life time: 1.5 million kilometers in strong business transport

Relating to the claim of a lower overall carbon footprint, in a footnote, the business compare their battery cell to an IVL 2019 lithium-ion NMC 111 cell: “ Cradle-to-gate environment modification effect estimation was prepared in the way proposed by EU legislation utilizing the Item Environmental Footprint (PEF) EF2.0 database, to offer a forecast of cell footprints from Northvolt Ett completely serial production“

Mindful CleanTechnica readers will discover that journalism release prevents supplying any information about the brand-new long-life battery cells in regards to what battery chemistry is utilized or if there are any modifications in anode or cathode innovation that add to a longer than regular life span. There are likewise no efficiency information supplied that discuss how the brand-new battery cell carries out in unfavorable conditions such as severe cold– which has a substantial result on battery efficiency. We have actually connected to the business for more details and will upgrade this short article if we find out more.

The Takeaway

The lesson here seems that battery cells are not a one-size-fits-all proposal. Heavy truck consumers care not a whit about 0-to-60 miles per hour times or leading speed. They do appreciate dependability, durability, and overall operating expense. If an electrical truck needs a brand-new battery pack midway through its helpful life, that is clearly something that will straight impact running expense estimations.

Battery business and producers are infamously tightlipped about the batteries being utilized in today’s electrical lorries. Tesla, for example, utilizes NMC battery cells in a lot of its cars and trucks however LFP in some others. A chauffeur might or might not understand from behind the wheel what cells are utilized in the lorry’s battery pack. Consumers for utilized EVs understand even less about the batteries in the cars and trucks they are purchasing.

To the very best of our understanding, the Tesla Semi will utilize NMC battery cells in the long-range (500-mile) variation however might utilize LFP in the short-range (300-mile) variation. We understand that Tesla is dedicated to utilizing round battery cells in the 4680 format, however we do not understand much about what is inside those “cans.” It appears that Tesla has actually decided on the format and is now tweaking the chemistry and the electrodes inside to get the efficiency it is searching for.

In the future, there might be numerous variations of 4680 cells for various usage cases– among the Roadster 2.0 and another for the Tesla Semi, for example. At one time, Ford had 2 V-8 engines with precisely the very same displacement– the 351 Windsor and the 351 Cleveland– however they had completely various efficiency qualities.

Battery innovation is altering quickly. That’s a good idea. The brand-new long-life battery cells for Scania and Northvolt might be poor at powering a household sedan, however if they assist shift the world of durable trucks to zero-emission driving, that will be a lovely thing.