Our colleagues in the International Truck of the Year Jury had the opportunity to get the first drive in the new Scania electric heavy trucks at the company’s HQ in Södertälje in Sweden and recorded their first impressions for us.

Click on the image below to see the IToY team’s verdict:

“Operating zero-emission trucks is no longer a privilege for the chosen few,” said Fredrik Allard, Senior Vice President and Head of E-mobility at Scania. “Scania’s offer now covers a wide span of applications and customer demands, while offering services that are lowering the threshold for a transformation towards fossil-free transports for the many.”

With the introduction of new and updated solutions, Scania reckon a large selection of the truck operators have the opportunity to run electrified trucks regardless of their application. In Europe neither range nor charging need be an issue, and with up to 450 kW (610hp) available the power is not a concern.

With a GCM which can be up to 64 tonnes, the range is up to 390 kilometres, the charging capacity is up to 375 kW and the top power levels, 400 or 450 kW (circa 610 hp), are considerably higher than those sported by the majority of the conventional trucks out on the roads.

“Apart from true long-haul operations, few buyers today cannot find what they need from a operational viewpoint,” said Allard. “Sure, there are still certain applications that are less prone to turn electric in the near future, but many buyers will be amazed when they realise what these trucks are capable of and their efficiency together with our digital services.”

All trucks are fitted with green battery cells supplied by Northvolt and with packs produced in Scania’s smart battery assembly plant in Södertälje.

Ranges will vary with weight, operation, weather, driving style and so on, but a 27-tonne city tipper with six batteries can expect up to 350 km between each charging. One hour of charging will then add 270 km of range. It does not take the highest available charge points with 350 kW for achieving reasonable charging times, a 130 kW charger will add 100 km of range in one hour for a truck that uses 1.3kWh/km.

“We are a bit stuck on the concept of always filling from 10 per cent to 100 per cent as we do with diesel,” says Allard. “With battery-electric vehicles the mindset should be to charge for the required range instead: if you have 120 km to go to your home depot charger, it would be unnecessary to charge for more than that distance with some small extra margin.”