MAN launches electric city truck

 By Colin Windell  

MAN has shown its all-new inner city electric delivery truck at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover, Germany.

Electric truck brim full of useful technology

Developed in just 18 months, the all-new MAN CitE made its debut on the opening day of the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover, Germany, the new truck one of the first fully electric solutions for the entire field of city logistics between 3 and 26 tonnes.

“We help our customers to make their business simpler, more profitable, more sustainable and future-proof,” says Joachim Drees, Chairman of the Executive Board at MAN Truck & Bus AG.

“Electric mobility, digitalisation, autonomous driving – many of our customers want to be more informed when it comes to these topics. At the IAA we want to provide simple answers to complex questions.

“To do so, we create solutions tailored to the needs of our customers and help them to make their businesses simpler, more profitable, more sustainable and future-proof. The future of goods and passenger transport in the city is electric.”

The 15-tonne vehicle (which was only developed in just 18 months) was designed for inner city distribution transport.

Due to the fact delivery drivers in urban areas can enter and exit their vehicles up to 30 times a day, the CitE has an unusually low entry height and especially wide doors; the co-driver's door opens at the press of a button. The cockpit affords the driver an excellent panoramic view due to a low seat position and large side windows.

Additionally, the CitE employs a 360-degree camera system to provide the greatest possible level of safety and to eliminate dangerous blind spots. The CitE is purely electrically driven. It has a range of 100 kilometres – more than enough for delivery transport in the city.

MAN also showcased the MAN eTGE, a battery-electric version of the new MAN van, in addition to a fully electric distribution truck, the MAN eTGM.

“Urban areas are the best stage for e-trucks to demonstrate their strengths. They are emissions-free locally, and thus contribute to improving the air quality in cities. They are also very quiet, which means in the future, for example, delivering to supermarkets could be done at night – day-time traffic could be reduced,” says Drees.

Even for city buses, the path clearly leads to them being electrically driven. This is the reason why MAN has formed development partnerships with locations including Munich, Hamburg, Wolfsburg and Luxembourg – to allow daily experiences to be incorporated into series development. A close-to-series prototype of the MAN Lion’s City E is also making its début at this year’s IAA.

The electric bus is driven by a central motor on the driven axle, which allows space for an optimised seating area in the rear, providing the bus with up to four additional seats.

The batteries are crash-proof, located on the roof to save space, allow for a range of up to 270 kilometres and can be charged in just three hours.