Scania and electrification: a multi-faceted approach

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Scania Group Press Release  /  January 24, 2018

With no ‘one size fits all’ solution, we are exploring a range of sustainable technologies.

Scania’s response to the need for a more sustainable, electrified transport solution entails several different areas of research.

“Our philosophy is to have a broad approach when it comes to research into all sustainable technologies, rather than putting all of our eggs in one basket,” says Nils-Gunnar Vågstedt, who leads Scania’s work on electrification technology.

With our electrification roadmap, Scania is taking a multi-faceted approach, including research into different kinds of bio-fuelled hybrid technologies, and fully-electric vehicles. The public discussion often mistakes battery-electric vehicles as the only fully-electric option but in our research and development we also work with fully-electric vehicles powered by hydrogen-powered fuel cells and fully-electric vehicles that can be charged via electrified roads. Vågstedt emphasises that there is no one ‘size fits all’ solution.

Scania and the electrified road

The electrified road has been one of Scania’s most interesting electrification projects. Since June 2016, a two-kilometre strip of the E16 motorway has been in operation outside the Swedish city of Gävle in an ongoing project with infrastructure partner Siemens.

There, Scania trucks are fitted with a pantograph power collector that is mounted on the frame behind its cab. The pantographs are in turn connected to overhead power lines that are above the right-hand lane of the road. The trucks can freely connect to and disconnect from the overhead wires while in motion and charge the batteries in the trucks that are equipped with an electric hybrid powertrain.

Although the two Scania trucks have been successfully operating on the road, Vågstedt would like to see them pushed harder.

“Last winter was very mild but we hope that we will see tougher conditions this winter, so we can really put the technology to the test.”

The future development of battery technology and charging infrastructure such as the electrified road, will determine how to power future heavy commercial electrified and hybrid vehicles.

Sweden and Germany working for a sustainable future

The electric road project has already gained international attention and there are new demonstrations planned for the technology in Germany, over a longer distance.

The project was given a real seal of approval in 2017 when German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven met to launch a new innovation partnership between Sweden and Germany that will focus on “Innovation and Cooperation for a Sustainable Future”.

“A key focus of this cooperation will be to test and develop further the opportunities afforded by the electrified road technology, work that has already been started by us in cooperation with Siemens,” says Vågstedt.

Partnerships key to sustainable transport

Vågstedt strongly believes that partnerships are another key ingredient in the mix when it comes to meeting the challenges of developing truly sustainable transport.

“The wide scale of the challenge of low-carbon transport solutions and the wide scale of possible solutions means that Scania sees partnerships as the only way the transport industry can become sustainable. We cannot work in isolation.”

Scania currently works with municipalities, academia, private companies, infrastructure suppliers and fuel and energy providers in an effort to reach viable sustainable transport solutions.

“It is important from Scania’s point of view that we put the same demand on our partners as we do on ourselves when it comes to our cooperation and joint activities,” says Vågstedt.

“The work must always be based on sustainable choices.”

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Why electrification is here to stay

Scania Group Press Release  /  January 23, 2018

Environmental benefits and growing financial viability make electrified vehicles key to sustainable transport.

The impact of the disruptive trends on the transport industry is not only significant when it comes to sustainable choices, it is fundamental consideration for good business. Scania is working on a wide range of sustainable transport technologies to replace fossil fuels. The electrification roadmap is a key element of that strategy.

The importance of electrification to transport

Nils-Gunnar Vågstedt, who leads Scania’s research into electrification technology, explains just how important this trend is in a global context.

“To start with, there is a growing global awareness of electrification and its environmental benefits, including the potential zero carbon footprint, quieter vehicles and zero particle emissions.

“Not only can emissions be reduced when using electrified vehicles but also, crucially, energy consumption can be considerably reduced.”

Why the transport industry is embracing electrification

There are numerous forces behind the electrification of today’s transport industry, and although long-haul transport is a little behind the rest of the sector, it is catching up fast, with a growing number of bio-fuelled hybrids as well as fully-electric vehicles on the market. Here, Scania is playing a leading role.

One reason things are changing so quickly in the transport industry is that electric vehicles are becoming increasingly financially viable in their own right, without the need for additional subsidies as was required in the early development stages of the technology.

“When operational economy and society’s most important goal of reduced environmental impact are aligned, choosing the best solution will become very simple, and a disruption of the industry’s existing technological model will follow,” explains Vågstedt.

Infrastructure and batteries remain barriers to electrification

Batteries and infrastructure loom large as challenges that need to be met in the journey towards the electrification of vehicles. Both still require major development before they can be ready to support fully-electric vehicles en masse, as well as work with the different hybrid versions that also require batteries and which are more commonplace today.

Vågstedt and his team at Scania are aware that there is much still to do.

“Batteries for vehicles of all sizes are already high in demand, and we are still in the early days of adoption of this technology. We are moving in the right direction and it’s happening fast, but more sustainable batteries need to be developed. They need to live longer, be more energetic and the cost needs to come down. As an industry we also need to make sure that the sourcing of materials, the energy-intense production and the recycling of batteries are all sustainable over time.”

The technology behind how batteries are charged from the grid also remains an issue; not only for Scania but for the whole industry.

“The electrified solutions we work with are strongly correlated to charging systems and strategies. This means batteries and charging systems must be viewed together as part of the overall infrastructure.”

One of the pillars of Scania’s approach to delivering sustainable transport solutions is to make sure they are as energy-efficient as possible. In the case of electrification, this means to use as few batteries as possible for a specific transport solution and optimise stops for charging, or to charge whilst driving, such as happens on the electric highway.

When, not if electrification takes off

It’s not a matter of if electrification takes off, it’s when.

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