MAN presented a near-production prototype of the new electric truck to the public for the first time in Nuremberg. Production of the new electric truck is scheduled for early 2024, a year ahead of previous plans. MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp also announced at the event that the first 200 e-trucks will be built at the beginning of 2024.
According to a press release from the Munich-based CV manufacturer, in addition to zero-emission drives, it developing comprehensive e-mobility solutions. This will help customers get ready for vehicle use early on.
“We need to drive the electrification of our fleet even faster. However, we will only succeed in ramping up e-mobility if we support our customers in their transition and convince them to do so. To this end, we are creating integrated digital solutions and charging offers,” explains Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus.
Bayernflotte research project
At the same time, MAN is also increasing its focus on hydrogen mobility research, in addition to speeding electromobility. It will deliver hydrogen fuel cell trucks for trials to five companies in Bavaria in 2024.
The state of Bavaria is funding the “Bavarian Fleet” (Bayernflotte) research project with 8.5 million euros as part of its own hydrogen strategy. MAN is working on a fuel cell truck with industry partners Bosch, Faurecia and ZF in the Bayernflotte project.
Five companies – BayWa, DB Schenker, GRESS Spedition, Rhenus Logistics and Spedition Dettendorfer will get the delivery of trucks in mid-2024. These companies will test their fuel-cell trucks in real-world conditions for one year.
Currently, commercial vehicles with fuel cells have a longer range than those with batteries. Also, the energy costs of hydrogen in operation are foreseeably still significantly higher.
Only when sufficient green hydrogen and the corresponding infrastructure are available well after 2030, the company expects to use hydrogen fuel-cell trucks in selected areas of application.
Battery pack production
Vehicle batteries are a key element on the way to emission-free drives. MAN began building up its own expertise in the assembly of battery packs as early as spring 2021.
In the series-produced MAN Lion’s City E city bus, a battery pack has a capacity of 80 kWh. Six battery packs together on a 12-metre city bus give a range of up to 350 km.
The MAN Lion’s City E impressively demonstrated that it can achieve even significantly greater ranges under optimum everyday conditions at the Efficiency Run in May 2021. For 24 hours, the MAN electric bus travelled 550 kilometres without intermediate charging on a public transport line in Munich.
Also, the company has a fully electric MAN eTGM truck in its lineup, which is suitable for a wide range of tasks.
