MAN sends its first eTruck into road tests

It was an unusual sight today in Munich: a 40-ton truck parked in front of the Olympiahalle, the sunlit television tower in the background, and around it pedestrians strolling through the park. It was the first drive of the MAN eTruck on public roads, or – as Truck Chief Alexander Vlaskamp put it:

“Another important milestone on the road to series production.”

MAN's large electric vehicle is approaching its market launch. It is scheduled for 2024. Only a few final tests remain to be completed. Recently, the mass-production electric truck for CO2-free road freight transport proved its winter suitability at the Arctic Circle. Now it goes into long-distance endurance testing on public roads. A summer test in the Sierra Nevada is also still pending, according to Vlaskamp.

For the inaugural drive at Munich's Olympic Park, alongside the CEO of MAN, Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Markus Söder took the passenger seat as the heavy-duty long-haul e-truck traversed a short distance through the Olympic Park.

Vlaskamp calls for expansion of charging infrastructure

Addressing the politician, Vlaskamp subsequently emphasized - as he often has in his recent appearances - the importance of expanding public charging infrastructure. This is absolutely necessary for the successful transition to battery-electric trucks. And Vlaskamp's plans foresee the drive transformation in long-distance transport soon to begin:

“By the middle of this decade, it will be more economical to operate e-trucks than trucks with combustion engines in this country. We are bringing our heavy-duty e-truck to market at exactly the right time, when we can expect increasing demand from haulers,” specified the CEO of MAN Truck & Bus, clarifying the substantial market potential for battery-electric trucks.

At the same time, he emphasized that if the transformation is to succeed, the public e-infrastructure must keep pace. Vlaskamp demands at least 50,000 high-performance and megawatt charging points in Europe - both in customers' depots and along the main long-distance routes.

By 2030, half of the trucks will be fully electric

This is all the more urgent because MAN is pursuing ambitious plans for electrification. By 2030, 50 percent of all new trucks registered in Europe by the manufacturer are expected to be battery electric. As part of the Traton Group, MAN is actively involved in setting up at least 1,700 high-performance charging points along highways and at logistics hubs in Europe through a joint venture with other partners. The Munich-based company is also involved in the HoLa project – High-performance Charging in Long-distance Trucking: Along the A2 highway between Berlin and the Ruhr area, fast charging points are to be set up where long-distance battery-electric trucks can be charged within the 45-minute legal break times.

Megawatt charging as an important component

The new MAN eTruck is technically already prepared for the megawatt-level charging required and expected to be available from 2025. Long-distance daily ranges between 600 and 800, later even up to 1,000 kilometers are to be possible with the electric lion. But the new MAN eTruck will also cover the majority of other typical transport tasks of today's trucks, such as quiet and emission-free waste disposal in the city or collecting milk from organic farms with the electric food tanker.

The preparation of the Munich plant for electrification is already in full swing. Production of the new MAN electric truck is scheduled to start there in 2024, running parallel to the conventional diesel truck on one line. This mixed production allows for the flexible meeting of the increasing demand for electric trucks in the coming years while keeping diesel trucks in the program for as long as necessary.