The truck for a two-day journey across Norway and into Sweden in the middle of winter for PowerTorque’s European Correspondent, Will Shiers is a 40R regional 4×2 prime mover and the mission is finding cross country truck charging.
Located along the Scania’s chassis are six 104kWh (624kWh total) nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries. They power an electric machine, comprising three electric motors with a continuous output of 400kW (544hp), which is matched to a 6-speed Opticruise transmission.
On day two it’s a balmy -10 degrees this morning, almost tropical compared with yesterday. That said, I’m still looking forwards to climbing into a nice warm cab. However, at some point in the night a security guard spotted that the truck was fully charged, and trying to be helpful, unplugged it.
Although aware that the cold cab and batteries will have a detrimental effect on the truck’s range, I’m not too concerned. Although Södertälje is 300km away, I’ll be stopping in 128km to top up the batteries anyway, so don’t have range anxiety. In fact, knowing that I’m less than two hours away from power, I’m heavier on the accelerator than yesterday.
The 40R has plenty of power, and it’s all available from a standing start. Consequently, acceleration is swift and effortless, and it’s hard to believe that the trailer is loaded with concrete, and not fresh air.
The OK Q8 charger is located on an easy-to-access industrial estate, and the 350kW chargers sit on either side of wide bays. It’s a refreshing change from yesterday’s first stop. I plug it in and watch as the battery starts to replenish – 68 per cent, 69 per cent, 70 per cent, 71 per cent, 72 per cent and nothing! The charger has tripped.
I switch bays and start again, and once more it allows me to add 5 per cent of charge before tripping. In desperation I drop the trailer and go in search of another other local truck charger, only to discover that it’s too small to accommodate the truck. Could I attempt to do the journey in one hit?
Fortunately, Scania UK’s pre-sales technical manager Phil Rootham has been following in a car, and he’s already got his calculator out.
“There is an installed capacity of 624kWh, of which we work in a 75 per cent state-of-charge(SOC) window, so if I multiply 624 by 75 per cent I get 468kWh of useable energy if the battery is charged to 100 per cent,” he says.
I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about, so just nod.
“We have 74 per cent of charge, so if I multiply the 468 by 74 per cent it equals 346kWh. Yesterday we had a worst consumption of 1.47kWh/km, so if I divide 346 by 1.47 I get a predicted range of 235km, and Södertälje is 172km away.”
I understand the end bit – in theory it’s doable! However, it’s cold (the forecast today is a high of -4 degrees). I decide to take the risk.
As it happens, the conditions are in my favour, with undulating hills and light traffic. I set the cruise control to the legal speed limit, which ranges from 70kmph to 90kmph, and let the truck do its stuff. It behaves impeccably and has the same great driving characteristics that you’d expect from a Scania, only it’s quieter and smoother.
I’d like to tell you that it’s a nail-biting finish, and that I finally roll into Scania’s demo centre with just one per cent of charge left, but the truth is far less exciting, and I arrive with 26 per cent to spare.
For this leg it’s consumed 1.249kwh/km, which equates to a possible maximum range of 374km. Admittedly I’ve been running at 34 tonnes instead of 40 tonnes, but then there’s the temperature to consider.
All in all, it’s a fantastic performance, and if anything, Scania has underestimated the truck’s range. Now that makes a refreshing change.
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