Scania delivers 66-tonne electric truck to Norway

We have written several times about Scania’s extra-long heavy-duty electric trucks. Now another such vehicle has been delivered, this time in Norway, to haul lime with its 66 tonnes total weight, sparing the atmosphere the combustion of almost 60,000 litres of diesel per year.

The vehicle was delivered in Verdal, approximately as far up North in Norway as Trondheim. The company Verdalskalk AS mines lime in a quarry nearby. To ship the lime, it must be transported to the port, about ten kilometres away. A round trip between the quarry and the port is almost 20 kilometres long.

The truck is part of Scania’s pilot partner programme that develops transport solutions in cooperation with customers, which have not yet seen a market launch. About a year ago, we reported that the Swedish Traton subsidiary was developing vehicles with a gross weight of over 60 tonnes when a 64-tonne truck was handed over to the Swedish chemical supplier Wibax. The three-axle semitrailer tractor has been on the road between Piteå and Skellefteå ever since. Later, three vehicles weighing up to 74 tonnes were delivered to two mining companies in northern Sweden. Last summer, a timber truck was delivered to the Nordic country that is allowed to weigh up to 80 tonnes on private roads, as reported.

Verdalskalk’s electric truck is now the first vehicle from this programme to enter service in Norway. “Norway is a pioneering country when it comes to transport solutions focused on reducing climate impact, and I am sure we will deliver more cars from our Pilot Partner concept to Norway,” says Tony Sandberg, Director Pilot Partner at Scania.

Workshop mechanics are already trained for the electric truck

On the route between the quarry and the harbour, the vehicle is expected to transport about 120,000 tonnes of lime every year. A comparable diesel truck consumed 58,800 litres of fuel annually and emitted 156 tonnes of CO2. What Scania has not yet made public is how much electricity the electric truck needs.

When it became clear that there was an opportunity to use a heavy-duty electric truck from the pilot partner programme in Norway, it was natural to contact Verdalskalk. As Scania’s Norwegian salesman, Rune Wuttudal, says: “Verdalskalk has always challenged us to find good transport solutions, and alternative solutions to reduce emissions have been on the agenda for many years.”

The unique vehicle is maintained at a Norsk Scania workshop in Verdal. The mechanics recently spent time at the Scania factory for further training to familiarise themselves with the product and obtain the necessary equipment. Fittingly, the workshop is located directly on the vehicle’s daily route as it departs from the E6 towards the port.

Nine battery packs with a total energy content of 300 kWh are installed in the P 45 B6X2/4NB, as the model is officially called, just like Scania’s other heavy trucks. The vehicle is charged with up to 130 kW at a specially-built charging station at the port. The electric drive outputs 450 kW and 3,500 Nm of torque to the rear axle via a six-speed gearbox. The tractor weighs ten tonnes, about one tonne more than a comparable diesel vehicle. Since the trailer weighs 12.7 tonnes and the semitrailer 8.3 tonnes, the total empty weight is 31. Although Scania says 74 tonnes of “gross technical weight” is possible, the registration limits the vehicle to 66 tonnes.

“We are very proud to be pioneers in this field,” says Ketil Aksnes from Verdalskalk. “The new vehicle in operation also means less noise for residents along our 20-kilometre transport route and another positive experience.”

Reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.