New battery assembly robots

ABB will supply Scania with new robots to assemble electric batteries for heavy vehicles. The robots will be installed in a highly automated assembly line at an advanced industrial complex in Sweden.

ABB has entered into an agreement with Scania, to provide a comprehensive range of robotic solutions for Scania’s new highly automated battery assembly plant in Sweden. The new facility will be a key milestone on Scania’s journey towards the electrification of heavy vehicles. Scania will invest more than SEK 1 billion ($108 million) in the facility over several years and the new Södertälje plant is expected to be fully operational by 2023.

The advanced 18,000 m2 facility will be built next to Scania’s chassis assembly plant in Södertälje, Sweden, and will be highly automated, from goods reception through production to delivery. It will assemble battery modules from cells supplied by Northvolt’s battery factory in Skellefteå, with the completed packs delivered directly to the vehicle assembly hall. Multiple ABB robots will be involved in the assembly process, including the IRB 390, IRB 4600 and IRB 6700 models, along with additional solutions to support the production process.

More than 40 years of partnership

This will mark the first time ABB’s IRB 390 robot will be used in a battery production facility. Originally designed for the packing industry, the robot combines speed with power and can mount contact plates in batteries at a rate of one plate every second, twenty-four hours a day. ABB’s RobotStudio simulation and programming software will enable full verification of the production line prior to deployment which will significantly shorten lead times and support the quality process.

Scania and ABB have worked in partnership for more than four decades and are collaborating on building production infrastructure for electric vehicles. Recently, they joined forces to create charging solutions for heavy goods vehicles that will also be powered by batteries manufactured by Northvolt. The Northvolt facility – one of Europe’s largest lithium-ion battery factories – has also been developed in partnership with ABB.