Electric milestone reached with new cable factory

2 NOVEMBER 2022

An important step on the journey towards in-house production of electric vehicles has been taken in Södertälje. The production line for complete Voltage Class B (VCB) cable harnesses for BEV vehicles has been set up and tested in record time – a completely new business for Scania.

To celebrate this event, an internal inauguration of the line took place October 27 with an unofficial ‘cable-cutting’ ceremony in the newly established 2,200 sqm workshop, next to the chassis assembly in Södertälje.

Proudly presenting

Tony Persson is Head of Battery Production and very proud to showcase the new production line. “We are now ready to start pre-series and prototype production of high-power cables and harnesses. It is an important step in order to trim and finalise this line, in time for customer orders later next year.”

Björn Nerelius, Tony Persson and Fredrik Westerlund

New line of business

The emerging in-house production of battery packs and cabling for BEV vehicles is a vital enabler. Both to build competence in this new area, and to further on take a greater responsibility for the complete customer promise. “We start off with cables and harnesses for electric trucks in the first phase,” says Persson, “to later move on to cabling for bus applications, and finally for Power Solutions’ customer needs.”

A cross-functional success

The successful launch was feasible thanks to cross-functional target setting and tight team work. Equipment purchase and start of prototype assembly was made possible through the joint efforts of Purchasing, Production and R&D.

Dario Cancar, Project Manager at global Industrial Engineering, METB, is impressed by this production build-up in an area that is completely new to Scania. “All members of this project have put in so much energy and devotion since we decided to establish this production line only nineteen months ago. It is an amazing achievement.”

Fine-tuning for customers

The start of production (SOCOP) of battery packs and cable harnesses is set for Q3 2023. The project wanted to celebrate a milestone on the road to a complete in-house production, and to express their gratitude to all parties involved. “This month we have managed to run and verify a cable harness through all stations on the, almost complete, line,” says Fredrik Westerlund, Group Manager for the engineering team, “and we can now produce complete harnesses fit for BEV trucks.”

Currently, Scania uses external suppliers to deliver both battery packs and cable harnesses but the goal is to only source battery cells, cable coils and connective components from trusted partners in the future.