MAN Truck & Bus
25 Oct 2022
The MAN eMobility Experience Days at the Munich test track turned eMobility into a real experience. Customers, journalists and experts saw current and future e-mobility at first hand. The focus was on the new MAN eTruck and the MAN Lion’s City 10 E.
Welcome to the test track: The MAN eMobility event took place from 17 to 21 October at the MAN test track in Karlsfeld near Munich, Germany. Invited MAN customers and around 70 German and international industry journalists were invited to enjoy the glorious sunshine.
There was great amazement. “Sensationally quiet,” “powerful acceleration,” “you don’t even notice that you’ve got ten tonnes behind you,” “drives like a car” – those were just a few of the spontaneous initial comments from customers and journalists at the MAN eMobility event from 17 to 21 October 2022.
There, they had the opportunity to drive the almost production-ready MAN eTruck on the MAN test track for the very first time. The all-electric truck, due to enter production in 2024, joined the fully electric MAN Lion’s City 10 E midibus as the main attractions of the event. In addition to two eTrucks, visitors could also drive an eTGM. With a maximum daily range of 190 kilometres, it is designed for application in inner-city goods distribution and delivery traffic.
In countless test drives on the track, visitors could experience the many benefits of emission-free drive technology in practice. However, it was not just the vehicles, but also the copious information on MAN eMobility services, battery production and the company’s electric drive expertise that made it clear that the future of MAN is electric.
The message got through and the new eTruck impressed both the invited customers and around 70 German and international industry journalists. Michael Schippler, fleet manager at Vion Food Group, was full of praise after his two laps at the wheel of the all-electric truck: “At the start of my test drive, I wondered if I was actually driving a truck or a car. The eTruck was child’s play to operate and to move. We have already signed up to pre-order the vehicle.”
The MAN eTruck is ready for the forthcoming megawatt charging standard and is therefore ideal for heavy duty long-haul transport. Daily ranges of between 600 and 800 kilometres will be possible in just a few years and in the long term, ranges of up to 1,000 kilometres are expected. The prerequisite for this is that drivers can charge their eTrucks using high-performance chargers during their compulsory 45-minute rest times.
That’s exactly why the TRATON GROUP, which includes MAN, is deeply committed to expanding the charging infrastructure: Working with a number of industry partners, they have founded a joint venture to build at last 1,700 high-capacity charging points on or near motorways and logistics hubs across Europe. The partners are investing a total of € 500 million in the project. However, visitors to the event believe that extensive political support for this endeavour is necessary.
Only then will eTrucks be able to unleash their full potential: Compared to a diesel truck for long-haul transport (with an average fuel consumption of 27 litres per 100 kilometres), a single electric truck can save up to 100 tonnes of CO2, based on an annual mileage of 120,000 kilometres. That’s winning over more and more logistics operators who want to do something about climate change. Consequently, it is estimated that there will be some 270,000 electric trucks on the roads of Germany by 2030.
MAN leads the way when it comes to sustainability and has committed to binding climate targets as part of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): Fleet greenhouse gas emissions per kilometre driven by all trucks, buses and vans sold by MAN are set to fall by 28 per cent by 2030 compared to the base year 2019. MAN is clearly relying on battery electric mobility as a replacement for the diesel engine here, because it is significantly more energy efficient and economical in comparison with hydrogen propulsion systems. This makes eMobility the first choice for transport solutions to sustainably reduce CO2 emissions.
As well as first-hand experience in and around the vehicles on the test track, customers and members of the press could also chat to MAN experts at four Pit Stops to find out more about the current state of battery developments, the benefits of the eTruck, the challenges linked to the charging infrastructure and the services available from MAN Transport Solutions. After all, MAN’s priority is simplifying business! That’s why the company offers customers complete eSolutions to ensure a smooth transition and the most efficient use of their eTruck.
A number of MAN experts were available for discussion and to provide comprehensive, 360° advice to anyone interested. Discussions like this are essential because the framework conditions have to be right to ensure a smooth transition from diesel to electric vehicles. These include rapid, easy charging using megawatt charging systems and a perfect charging infrastructure with as few gaps as possible. To ensure all this, the MAN Transport Solutions team provides customers with advice before, during and after their switch to electric vehicles. It’s a service that’s very well-received: “I would like to be supported by MAN, right from A to Z, from the purchase of the vehicle to its disposal,” says Dennis Wirtz, fleet manager of Hillert freight forwarding agency.
It goes without saying that the experts at MAN Transport Solutions also advise and support bus segment customers with their transition to e-mobility. Michael Schippler sums up the importance of this consultancy service: “I have perfect support at my side on the road to e-mobility, a competent partner to help with the entire planning and implementation process.”
The visitors did, however, have a few criticisms – especially when it comes to the infrastructure: “The greatest hurdles are still the lack of charging stations and support for e-mobility,” explains Rudolf Ebner, head of Procurement and Fleet at Quehenberger Logistics. “Here in Austria, we have to buy three vehicles to get any support.” Bernd Reining, Fleet Manager at Duvenbeck Consulting, takes a similar view. However, he remains optimistic: “It is right to start gathering initial experiences in the field of e-mobility for the transport industry – even if it will take a while for the infrastructure to catch up. For example, we can learn at an early stage through driving training courses how to save energy when driving. To do that, we need MAN’s support, like here and now at this event.”
Small, handy, manoeuvrable – with a length of just 10.5 metres, a record-breaking turning circle of 17.2 metres and a wheelbase of only 4.40 metres, the new MAN Lion’s City 10 E is the perfect transport solution for narrow city centres.
The other highlight of the event, alongside the MAN eTruck, was the brand-new MAN Lion’s City 10 E midibus. It was launched on 21 October – to an audience including the 24 international industry journalists who had recently picked the Lion’s City 12 E as Bus of the Year 2023. The small eBus completes the Lion’s City E family, and this was the first time the members of the Bus of the Year awards jury had been given the opportunity to admire it.
At only 10.5 metres long, this electric bus has a record-breaking turning circle of 17.2 metres and a wheelbase of just 4.40 metres. This makes it the ideal solution for narrow city centres and busy pedestrian areas. The Lion’s City 10 E has given MAN a major competitive advantage: The company offers a length option that very few of its competitors produce.
Alongside the new midibus, the experts in Munich also got to meet the third member of the family: the big Lion’s City 18 E, which brought the guests to the event using all-electric power.
New eBus chassis An electric bus chassis developed by MAN specifically for the global market and based on the technologies of the Lion’s City E is scheduled to celebrate its market launch in 2024.
The technology in eBuses is under constant development. MAN’s engineers and developers work closely with their customers to tailor their vehicles even better to the needs and wishes of the operators. For example, customers can specify the number of battery packs to suit their routes. While the Lion’s City 12 E comes with four, five or six packs as standard, customers can choose between six, seven and eight packs on the Lion’s City 18 E articulated bus. Since the middle of 2022, an optional efficient CO2 air-conditioning system has also been available for all Lion’s City E models.
Text: Boris Pieritz
Photos: MAN
This website uses third-party content. In order to use the website and its full range of offers, please consent to the collection and processing of your personal data by the relevant third-party providers. To do so, please click on the red “Accept” button.
Further information can be found on our Data Protection & Cookies page.
This website uses third-party content. In order to use the website and its full range of offers, please consent to the collection and processing of your personal data by the relevant third-party providers. To do so, please click on the red “Accept” button.
Further information can be found on our Data Protection & Cookies page.