Electric trucks, MAN starts serial production of its eTruck. Our report from Munich
MAN Truck & Bus makes another important step on the path to the development and commercialization of its electric trucks. On June 16, in fact, the series production of the eTrucks was officially kicked off. This will indeed take place at the Munich plant on the same assembly lines dedicated to diesel trucks. We attended the event, held in the presence of CEO Alexander Vlaskamp and MEP Manfred Weber.
MAN Truck & Bus makes another important step on the path to the development and commercialization of its electric trucks. On June 16, in fact, the series production of the eTrucks was officially kicked off. This will indeed take place at the Munich plant on the same assembly lines dedicated to diesel trucks.
An integration that – production managers explained to us – aims to maximize the existing production infrastructure. At first, a production capacity of up to 30 trucks per day is planned for the latter, which is set to increase in the coming months up to 100 trucks a day, also due to the possibility to work under two shifts.
MAN electric trucks now officially in serial production
However, the market will always be the driving force: in fact, all vehicles launched for production have an order placed by a customer behind them. As for the powertrain, then, it is confirmed that the batteries will be assembled in Nuremberg, while the central unit housing the electric motor (below) comes from Scania’s pnat located in Sodertalje. Indeed, the two companies belong to the TRATON Group.
The unveiling event was attended by MAN Truck & Bus CEO Alexander Vlaskamp, who unveiled the first serially produced electric truck and made himself available to journalists coming from all over Europe. This is an enormously important step towards achieving our goal of becoming CO2-neutral by 2050. “The fact that we can manufacture the electric trucks on the same production line as our state-of-the-art diesel trucks also gives us enormous flexibility and increases production efficiency”, Vlaskamp said. “We have invested almost 400 million euros in research and development to be able to offer our conventional truck product portfolio with battery-electric drive as well. The range extends from 12 to 50 tonnes and covers everything from refuse collection vehicles to long-haul trucks”.
The importance of a suitable charging infrastructure in Europe
Manfred Weber, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the EPP, gave the go-ahead at the Munich plant. “Innovation and technology are not only the key to Europe’s economic success and international competitiveness, but also crucial for reconciling economic and climate policy goals. MAN is leading the way with its e-truck and showing what lower-emission freight transport can look like”. Both Weber and Vlaskamp said a few words about the urgent need to build a broad and efficient charging infrastructure network suitable for trucks in Europe.
Regardless of the drive type, a single truck can be manufactured in about eight hours. “The production of electric or diesel trucks on a single line can be flexibly adapted to market developments, and the vehicles can be built exactly in the order in which they are ordered by customers. This innovative concept is accompanied by extensive changes along the assembly line as well as in the supply chain and logistics,” added Michael Kobriger, Member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics.
For example, while combustion engines are initially fitted with axles, tanks and exhaust systems, the electric models are instead fitted with two batteries under the cab together with other electrical components – the so-called power pack. More than 5,000 employees have been trained in high-voltage technology for this transformation. Indeed, training sessions were carried out during small series production of MAN electric trucks, with about 200 eTrucks produced and handed over to selected customers in Germany and all over Europe.
