[ad_1]
After a difficult year with, among other things, a two-month production stop, Scania has again increased the pace of production. And now there is also a new approach, electric trucks. The former have batteries from South Korea’s Samsung, but from 2022 they will come from Northvolt, based in Skellefteå, where Scania is a partner.
– Our development cooperation has worked very well. It is amazing how they have hired cutting edge expertise from around the world. An important part of our work with them is their emphasis on sustainability in everything from purchasing to recycling, says Henrik Henriksson.
“Scania wants to lead the shift towards fossil-free trucks: if there’s competition, it’s perfect, the faster you go the better.”
Photo: Barzan Dello
But now Scania is building his own battery laboratory and his own battery factory. The laboratory will be fully operational next autumn, the factory will be commissioned in 2023. This is a total investment of “more than one billion crowns”. The factory will be located next to the large chassis factory in Södertälje.
We want you here in Södertälje, close to our research and development. When volumes increase, production can also take place in our various factories around the world.
– We obtain the cells from Northvolt, but we want to design our battery packs according to the type of truck and area of use. The lab will be used to optimize battery performance and perform life cycle analysis on everything from -40 to plus 70 degrees.
Jonas Fröberg: The trucking industry has so far been a protected zone in the context of carbon dioxide in Europe
The battery cells, the size of a hardcover book, are placed in modules the size of a shoebox, which are packaged in a battery pack, as large as a moving box. Production will be highly automated and handled by 200 people, most of whom are hired internally.
– We want this in Södertälje, close to our research and development. When volumes increase, production can also take place in our various factories around the world, says Henrik Henriksson.
The construction will be financed in part by green bonds, which the company has now qualified to issue in its own name. These are loans aimed at a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
For half of vehicle sales, Scania Bank is active and has approximately SEK 100 billion on loan. The compromise becomes more difficult with electric power: a truck of this type costs between 2 and 3 times more than today.
Photo: Barzan Dello
The pandemic forced Henrik Henriksson do what “has not happened at Scania since 1993”, a true global downsizing. 5,000 people will be laid off before the turn of the year; in addition, factories in India, Thailand and Finland will be closed. At the same time, the company has accelerated, in June it was decided to increase production significantly during the fall.
But then the virus sped up again.
– Just a few weeks ago I thought we were done, we received bright signals from all over the world, strong order inflow in September. But perhaps we underestimate the second wave. We are now mentally preparing for the fact that there will be a lot of production disruptions this last quarter, says Henrik Henriksson.
But anxiety is not like this spring:
– Now we get good signals about a vaccine, Joe Biden is better because he can give us a different stability and clearer rules of the game. And politicians around the world have made bold decisions to spend huge sums of money on a reboot. Together, this can become a powerful cocktail that can generate growth.
Henrik Henriksson talks about a broad interest in electric vehicles: “Distribution cars, fire trucks, garbage trucks, gravel trucks …”
Photo: Barzan Dello
Henrik Henriksson’s analysis of the surrounding world leads to the following conclusion:
– I do not regret that we have increased the production rate this summer and now we are recruiting again for production. The idea is that early next year we will be there strong and well trained to accelerate properly.
During the first quarter of 2021 begins Scania delivers a hybrid truck, which can drive 60 km with electricity and a fully electrified one that travels 250 km.
– We have already started selling and it is going well for well, we have to see how we can adjust the production capacity. There is great demand throughout Scandinavia, but also in Switzerland, where electrical power benefits from the kilometer tax, and in the Netherlands, where there are “zero emission zones”.
The 1955 silver ball was previously an oil warehouse for Scania. It was designed by the architect Anders Berg, whose son Svante participated in the design of the Globe Arena.
Photo: Barzan Dello
What about trucks that travel at least 100 miles in a day, your largest segment?
– They will also be electrified, at least before 2025. We design vehicles that can drive 4 to 4.5 hours on a single charge, charge for 45 minutes, and then drive the same amount.
The year is not random, by then carbon dioxide emissions from trucks must have decreased by 15 percent, according to new EU rules. The requirement for 2030 is minus 30 percent.
– We welcome the requirements, they push the industry to change and we want that.
Scania has a challenge in the race towards fossil-free transport, especially by Volvo. The company recently launched what is called “a complete electric truck program in Europe in 2021”.
– The entire European auto industry is active, but of course we have two strong Swedish players. Scania wants to lead this change, but we welcome everyone: if it becomes a competition, it is perfect, the faster you go the better.
Henriksson continues:
– We want to focus here and now, and talk about the transition to biofuels and electric power. We have to break the curve now; I get a little tired when I talk about cool solutions coming “tomorrow”.
Vabis in Södertälje was formed in 1891 in Södertälje, the current company was formed in 1911 through a merger with Scania in Malmö.
Photo: Barzan Dello
Since 2018, in all strategic decisions, Scania has delivered what science requires to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degree warming. It’s about drastically reducing your own emissions, but also those of your trucks and buses. With the help of connected vehicles, Scania can track fuel consumption and thus carbon dioxide emissions.
And now the CEO has written a book, together with sustainability expert Elaine Weidman Grunewald. It’s called sustainability leadership. A Swedish approach to transform your company, your industry and the world ”.
– A manual for companies that want to become truly sustainable. It is a stepped model, you can jump in different places depending on how far you have come. We use Scania as an example, but we have also interviewed several different Swedish business leaders.
“If you don’t change, no one will want to buy your products or invest in your company.”
Photo: Barzan Dello
But is it quite a fluffy title?
– We may be ambitious there, but I think business leaders should take a much greater responsibility. Then we can change not just individual companies, but entire industries and, yes, the world. It’s about challenging them to act without waiting for legislation and thinking about their own legacy.
The preface says “unsustainable production and consumption.” Does it sound more like Greenpeace than market capitalism?
– Read a little more and say that profitability and sustainability go hand in hand. If you don’t change, regardless of the industry, no one will want to buy your products and services, work for you, or invest in you.
What is your own driving force?
– Leaving behind me a legacy in Scania that I can defend, something that is even stronger than what I inherited myself. But also being able to look my daughters in the eye when I am 70 years old: “I did what I could, there is no reason to be ashamed.”
Read more: Scania and Axfood will take out food with electric vehicles
Read more: Scania shows record, but stops all production
.
