The eTruck in a nutshell
MAN’s new eTruck – which was shown to the world for the first time at the fair in Hannover – will be launched in 2024. It is using MAN’s third-generation batteries (the first generation was used in the MAN eTGM and the second in the MAN Lion’s City E city bus, which has achieved over 550 kilometres on one battery charge).
The new truck will be produced at MAN’s main plant in Munich, where it will be manufactured on the same assembly line as conventional diesel trucks. MAN says that the mixed production will make it possible to meet the increasing demand for electric trucks in the coming years and still keep diesel trucks in the range for as long as necessary. (Many South African transport operators, who believe that diesel is far from dead, will no doubt say “hallelujah” to that.)
Around 2,500 electric trucks should roll off the production line in Munich in 2025. And, by 2030, around 40,000 heavy-duty electric trucks with a lion in the radiator grille are to be newly registered in Europe – around half of MAN's total annual production.
MAN isn’t just making the trucks; it will also manufacture the batteries for these vehicles itself at its plant in Nuremberg. We’re talking fairly big numbers: around 100,000 batteries are planned for 2030.
On the road already?
Now, we know exactly what you’re thinking. It’s only being launched in 2024 but it’s already on the road? Well, yes it is. But not in large numbers. The truck recently underwent winter testing in the Arctic Circle. And now it is being tested – in limited numbers, of course – on public roads.
Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Markus Söder recently joined MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp on one of those drives. Like so many other industry captains, Vlaskamp was at pains to emphasise the importance of expanding the public charging infrastructure for the successful conversion to battery-electric trucks.
"We are now bringing our battery-electric truck onto the roads of Bavaria after the successful winter tests. As early as the middle of this decade, it will be more economical to drive e-trucks in this country than trucks with combustion engines. We are therefore launching our heavy-duty e-truck at exactly the right time, when demand from hauliers is expected to pick up," said Vlaskamp.
He stressed the great market potential for battery-electric trucks, but at the same time emphasised the need for public e-infrastructure: "To achieve this, we urgently need at least 50,000 high-capacity, megawatt charging points in Europe – both at our customers’ depots and along the main long-distance routes,” he revealed. That’s quite some target!
MAN charges ahead
Vlaskamp and his team aren’t just pushing for charging points. They’re putting their money where their mouth is – and, as part of the Traton Group, MAN is already actively developing at least 1,700 high-performance charging points along motorways and at logistics hubs in Europe in a joint venture with other partners.
MAN has also been participating in what is known as the HoLa high-performance charging in long-distance truck traffic project. At the end of the project, eight Combined Charging System (CCS) charging points and eight Megawatt Charging Systems (MCS) charging points will be available at four locations along the A2 between Berlin and the Ruhr region, to support the real-life testing of this new system and form the basis for a nationwide expansion of this technology.
Ready to rock and roll
Once the charging infrastructure is rolled out, the eTruck will be ready to rock and roll. The new truck is already technically prepared for the megawatt charging required for this, which is expected to be available from 2025. Long-distance daily ranges of between 600 and 800 kilometres, later even up to 1000 kilometres, will thus be possible with the electric lion. But the new MAN eTruck will also easily cover the majority of other typical transport tasks of today's trucks, such as low-noise and emission-free waste disposal in the city or the collection of milk from the organic farmer with the electric food tanker.
South African debut?
And now the million-dollar question: when will we see this truck in South Africa? The exact dates for the launch of the eTruck in South Africa have not been confirmed yet. “But we look forward to welcoming MAN’s new eTruck to our country when it becomes available,” says Philip Kalil-Zackey, head of truck sales and product at MAN Automotive SA.
