There is something majestic about the feeling when a 40-ton truck starts moving. The king of the country road moves almost silently. 35 tons are loaded in the mighty trailer. No problem for the articulated lorry. We are behind the wheel of the MAN eTruck 4×2 LL SA prototype. So a tractor with four wheels, two of which are driven. The electric truck has around 350 kW / 476 hp and batteries with a capacity of 300 to 500 kilowatt hours. According to MAN, the consumption of the eTruck is between 0.8 and 1.2 kWh/km, depending on the area of application. Long-distance journeys draw more power from the batteries than regional delivery and distribution traffic. Daily ranges including breaks of 600 to 800 kilometers should not be a problem. We take note of these values and focus on the curves ahead. When braking, the barrels push quite a bit from behind and we have to really step on the shoes.
“It’s still a prototype and we’re still working on coordinating recuperation during deceleration,” explains Jens Hartmann, e-Truck project manager at MAN. Energy recovery is a special topic for the monster, which weighs several tons. “We want to give the customer every opportunity,” says Jens Hartmann. So you select five recuperation levels with a steering wheel stalk. One-pedal driving is activated with a separate control element. But even sailing is no problem with the electric truck. The e-truck is currently still equipped with a central electric motor and a two- or four-speed gearbox. We have a four-speed automatic, in which the first gear is only required for starting and on an incline. The reason is the merging of the old and new worlds. A rotating shaft of the gearbox is required, for example, to drive the hydraulics of a body. But MAN also assumes that the future of large e-commercial vehicles belongs to electric axles and their own electric motors for operating the trailers. However, the bodies must also be equipped accordingly.
The challenges for the Munich truck specialist are just as extensive and varied as the areas of application and the wishes of the customers. In addition to all the variants, there are also range requirements that have to be met with the right batter configurations. A simple four-pack battery trailer is the easiest exercise, with two four-tier battery modules mounted on the sides of the frame and two inside the frame. This duo consists of two elements each: one with four memory cell layers and the one behind it with three. Each of these four battery units weighs around 640 kilograms and has a usable capacity of 80 kWh.
A total of six such elements can be distributed on the truck depending on the application. The whole thing is similar to playing with Lego bricks. If space is needed on the sides for additions, the batteries are placed accordingly. Of course, the range also plays a role. Three batteries, four, five or a maximum of six – everything is possible. In different configurations: whether roll-off tipper, platform body with loading crane or body with refrigeration function. In order to fulfill these wishes and to make production as efficient as possible, MAN is already working closely with the body manufacturers. So when the MAN E-Truck 2024 appears, the customer will be able to configure the commercial vehicle according to their wishes when ordering and will receive exactly this tailor-made version. “We want to offer a highly flexible modular system,” says Jens Hartmann.
The basic concept of electric mobility in goods transport is obvious and should minimize the development effort. Transfer as much as possible from the car or the classic vehicles with combustion engines to the electric vehicle. This includes modern sensors and details such as the camera exterior mirrors or intelligent navigation, which helps the driver to reach their destination efficiently and on time. However, this is not possible one-to-one, after all, more parameters play a role in commercial vehicles than is the case with passenger cars. Two such parameters are the loading and of course the time when the load has to arrive at its destination. With clever piloting software, such specifications must be taken into account. Another important question is how to complete downhill runs. Fast to save time or slower to shovel as much energy into the battery as possible. “If I drive five minutes downhill, that’s like five minutes at the charging station,” explains Jens Hartmann.
A central point in electromobility is charging. This plays a decisive role, especially in commercial vehicles, since breaks of 45 minutes are prescribed, which can be used to fill up the energy storage. Time is money, so the current has to flow quickly on the tour. Around 350 kW are possible with CCS charging, which is fast, but not fast enough. With the powerful batteries, other performances are required – so megawatt charging should be possible in 2025, just in time for the market launch of the MAN eTruck. Together with Scania, Volvo and Daimler, they want to install 1,700 charging stations, including some MW ultra-fast chargers. A test route is to be created along the A2 between Düsseldorf Hafen and Berlin, which will simulate everyday delivery traffic including charging with electricity. The next step is already in the works: charging with a maximum of 3.75 MW. “With three megawatts, you can charge for 400 kilometers in 15 minutes,” says technician Dr. Christian Peteranderl. MAN also wants to offer users an all-round carefree package for charging with electricity and supply the appropriate software to help the dispatcher plan routes. It even goes so far that you can reserve charging stations. This is also feasible given the truck driver’s tight schedule.
