The lifecycle of EV batteries might be important for car buyers, but it is even more crucial for owners of commercial vehicles that usually travel a lot more miles. Thankfully, new lithium-ion battery cells from Scania and Northvolt match the longevity of diesel-powered trucks with an estimated lifecycle that exceeds the 1.5 million km (932,000 miles) mark.
The company announced the specs of the new prismatic cells which have a capacity of 157 Ah and a nominal voltage of 3.6 V. They are produced at the Northvolt Ett gigafactory in northern Sweden using fossil-free electricity generated by the hyrdo and wind power. As a result, the carbon footprint of each cell is reduced to approximately one-third. Within 2023, a Scania will open a new factory in Södertälje, Sweden, where the new cells will be assembled into battery packs, suitable for heavy-duty electric trucks.
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The collaboration between Scania and Northvolt started in 2017 and the project finally came to fruition this year, exceeding the initial expectations for longevity during validation testing. According to Scania, conventional heavy trucks have a 1.5 million km lifecycle, which means that the battery won’t need to be replaced. What we don’t know is the percentage of the range that the battery will retain after all those miles of use.
Christian Levin, CEO of Scania, said: “As the development of the battery cell started, we targeted high performance, low operating costs, and long lifetime. We decided on a requirement for the cell to enable a 1.5 million kilometers long lifetime for a heavy-duty Scania vehicle. The tests show that this requirement can not only be met, but also exceeded”. The CEO added that the brand “needs top-performing battery cells for electric trucks” in order to retain its “premium” status in the industry.
Scania didn’t provide a specific date for the launch of the first EV truck that will use the new battery.
