MAN demonstrates the potential of bidirectional charging for regional electric trucks

For the first time, MAN Truck & Bus publicly demonstrated bidirectional charging under real-world conditions at the premises of logistics company Spedition Schmid in Obertraubling near Regensburg, in Germany. The demonstration featured a battery-electric MAN eTGX with 480 kWh of usable energy.

More into details, the technology turns electric trucks into flexible energy storage systems. Instead of only consuming electricity, they can store power and feed it back into other systems as needed, thus improving fleet economics while also supporting the stability of the energy system.

Vehicle‑to‑Site, Vehicle‑to‑Vehicle, Vehicle‑to‑Grid

As explained by MAN, with Vehicle‑to‑Site (V2S) and Vehicle‑to‑Vehicle (V2V), companies use the energy stored in the truck battery directly at their own facilities – for example to avoid peak loads, increase self-consumption of photovoltaic electricity or support building infrastructure. In practice, this can translate into savings of around 10 to 20 percent on electricity costs.

Vehicle‑to‑Grid (V2G) further expands this potential. In this case, the eTruck feeds electricity back into the public grid – for instance during periods of high electricity prices or to support grid stability. Fleet operators could generate additional revenue streams in the future. By the end of this decade, V2G is expected to become an increasingly attractive business model as energy markets, grid services and logistics processes become more closely integrated.

The research project on bidirectional charging

The SPIRIT‑E research project is supported by a broad consortium covering the entire value chain, from vehicle technology and the energy industry to system integration. Partners include the Technical University of Munich (TUM) as consortium lead, Fraunhofer IEE, the Research Centre for Energy Economics (FfE), SBRS (Shell), TenneT, Hubject, Consolinno Energy, and MAN Truck & Bus. Together, they have developed solutions that are being tested in a real-world laboratory at a logistics site.

“Bidirectional charging is transforming the role of the electric truck”, stated Georg Grüneißl, Head of Product Strategy at MAN Truck & Bus. “Our eTrucks effectively become power banks on wheels that can help lower energy costs while strengthening the energy system as a whole. SPIRIT‑E has demonstrated the substantial potential of this technology and how electric trucks can actively contribute to the energy transition in the future.”