Scania’s new battery electric self-driving urban concept vehicle is designed with the flexibility to shift from ferrying commuters to and from work in mornings and evenings, delivering goods during the day and collecting refuse at night.
In a bold display of innovation, Scania’s engineers have taken the company’s DNA – the modular system – to the next level in developing a concept vehicle that can change shape for varying urban assignments.
Countless cities are now catalysing change in urban transport, driven by the need for lower emissions and less congestion.
Technological and infrastructural advances in electric and autonomous vehicles will be key enablers for cities when shifting to a sustainable transport system.
Said Scania’s President and CEO Henrik Henriksson: “NXT is a vision of the future for transport in cities. Several of these technologies have yet to fully mature but for us it’s been important to actually build a concept vehicle to visibly and technically demonstrate ideas of what is within reach.
“NXT is designed for 2030 and beyond while incorporating several cutting-edge features that are already available.”
In NXT, the front and rear drive modules can be fitted to a bus body, a distribution truck body or a refuse collector.
Adds Henriksson: “We at Scania can’t redraw the entire transport system for cities. What we can do is inspire change and that is the idea behind NXT – to think about transport and vehicles in a different and sustainable way.”
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“This is something new, something very different. Yet flexible design and modularised units lie very much at the core of Scania,” says Robert Sjödin, NXT Project Manager.
The eight-metre-long bus module is built as one composite unit, substantially reducing weight.
The cylindrical cell batteries are placed under the floor, thereby utilising otherwise dead space as well as contributing to better weight distribution.
With the low vehicle weight of less than eight tonnes, the range with present-day batteries is estimated at 245 kilometres.
Said Sjödin: “Continuous improvement in small steps has been the hallmark of Scania. We are now taking a giant leap into the future. This vehicle will provide invaluable tangible data in our continued development of electrified autonomous vehicles.”
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