In 2018 Scania announced an investment in Northvolt and a partnership to develop and commercialise battery cell technology for heavy commercial vehicles together. The companies also have an agreement regarding a volume commitment and future capacity for battery cells. As Northvolt now completes another equity raise, Scania announces a proportional increase in its investment in the partnership. 

Vehicle electrification is rapidly advancing. For heavy trucks and buses, continued development of charging infrastructure and battery cells is needed. The speed of change in the area of battery development is high, with great strides taken in the past few years to better adapt battery cells to heavy vehicles. The partnership with Northvolt is one of several strategic initiatives in Scania‘s ambition to drive the shift towards more sustainable transport solutions.

“Scania has been a crucial partner for Northvolt already from the start. We look forward to continuing to strengthen this partnership over the coming years as we ramp up our production of battery cells to support Scania‘s new electrified fleet of trucks,” says Peter Carlsson, co-founder and CEO of Northvolt.

With its latest equity raise, Northvolt plans to invest in production capacity expansion as well as R&D and recycling activities, to support the target of establishing 150GWh of manufacturing capacity in Europe by 2030. This is of particular importance to Scania. The demand for batteries is already on a high level and continues to increase. However, so far, there is a limited supply of batteries, and an even more limited supply of sustainably produced batteries.

“Currently, sourcing and production of batteries in a sustainable way is a challenge in the whole automotive industry. Northvolt was founded with the mission to build the world‘s greenest battery, with a minimal carbon footprint and the highest ambitions for recycling. That is why we think that Northvolt‘s mission very much matches Scania‘s ambition and purpose to drive the shift towards a sustainable transport system,” says Anders Williamsson, head of purchasing at Scania.