MAN drives zero-emission plans forward

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Friday 25 February 2022

MAN Truck & Bus has reported that it is accelerating its timetable for the introduction of zero-emission CVs, with planned production of heavy-duty electric trucks in Munich brought forward by almost a year to the beginning of 2024, and an initial 200 deliveries expected promptly thereafter.

The manufacturer unveiled a near-production prototype of its new electric vehicle for the first time in Nuremberg last month, and also announced a comprehensive package of eMobility solutions to help customers prepare for their use.

“We need to drive the electrification of our fleet even faster,” said Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus.

“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.”

In-house assembly of battery packs will add value to the company’s electric CV offering, the company says; and it has been developing its expertise in this area since Spring 2021 at the Nuremberg eMobility Technical Centre, where the first packs for e-vehicle testing and internal tests have since been produced.

In the series-produced MAN Lion’s City E city bus, a battery pack has a capacity of 80 kWh. Six battery packs are currently installed in a 12-metre city bus, resulting in a range of up to 350 km. At the manufacturer’s Efficiency Run event in May 2021, the MAN Lion’s City E demonstrated that it could achieve significantly greater ranges under optimum everyday conditions. For 24 hours, the MAN electric bus travelled 550 kilometres on a public transport line in Munich without intermediate charging.

Influencing factors in range capacity include topography, driving style and use of heating or air conditioning.

MAN is also stepping up its research into hydrogen mobility, with the announcement of €8.5 million in funding assistance from the Bavarian state government. The Bayernflotte (Bavarian Fleet) research project will see five customers in the region trial MAN trucks with hydrogen fuel cells in mid-2024: namely BayWa, DB Schenker, Gress Spedition, Rhenus Logistics and Spedition Dettendorfer.

For the Bayernflotte project, MAN is collaborating on the fuel cell truck with partners Bosch, Faurecia and ZF.

Alexander Vlaskamp continued: “MAN is accelerating its transformation and taking big steps towards emission-free drive systems. Our focus at MAN and in [parent company] the Traton Group is clearly on battery-electric drives. They form the basis for our heavy-duty e-trucks, which we will be launching on the market from 2024.

“Only when sufficient green hydrogen and the corresponding infrastructure are available well after 2030 do we expect to use H2 trucks in selected areas of application. That is why we are researching the topic of hydrogen and the funding from the state of Bavaria enables us to build up further expertise in the field.”

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) already offer the basic technology to provide cost-optimised, practical solutions for customers while also striving for sustainability and climate neutrality, says MAN. Trucks and coaches with H2 fuel cells are based on the BEV powertrain, but largely replace the weight-intensive batteries with lighter hydrogen tanks and the fuel cell.

While fuel cell vehicles can provide longer range than BEVs, says MAN, the costs of hydrogen are still significantly higher – meaning that battery-electric models are key to a rapid switch to e-trucks, as required to meet the sector’s climate targets.

The manufacturer also high­lights the importance of devel­oping charging infrastructure, for which it points out political support is indispensable.

MAN parent the Traton Group is also to make a contribution to the creation of a high-performance charging network for heavy-duty battery-electric trucks and coaches in Europe, as part of a planned joint venture with Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group announced in December, which aims to begin operations this year.

The manufacturers have committed to invest a total of €500 million in the installation and operation of at least 1,700 green energy charging points at key locations over five years.