In a historic moment for MAN Truck & Bus globally, the OEM has announced it has started series production of its electric truck range.
From now on at MAN’s Munich plant, both electric and diesel trucks will be produced in a fully integrated mixed production process on the same line.
The announcement saw MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp join MAN executive board member for production Michael Kobriger and member of the European Parliament and EPP chairman Manfred Weber attend the Munich site.
“The start of series production of our electric trucks is historic. It marks a turning point in our history. The future of MAN begins now, at this very moment,” Vlaskamp says.
“The entire MAN team is proud to be actively shaping the transformation from diesel to electric drive. Our highly efficient electric trucks will make locally emission-free freight transport a reality.
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“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 says MAN has invested almost 400 million Euros in research and development to be able to offer a conventional truck product portfolio with battery-electric drive options as well.
The rage extends from 12 to 50 tonnes and covers everything from refuse collection vehicles to long-haul trucks. MAN’s goal is to deliver the first 1,000 electric trucks by the end of this year.
“Depending on their use and electricity mix, this would save CO2 emissions comparable to those of a small town. That is enormous leverage,” he says.
“Politicians must now set the right course with regard to infrastructure expansion and CO2 pricing so that the ramp-up in e-mobility continues to gain momentum.”
MAN is now investing around one billion Euros to convert its European plants to produce electric trucks, starting with its larger German plants.
The maximum production capacity currently stands at around 100 trucks per day, regardless of the drive type, as it takes around eight hours to manufacture a truck. More than 5,000 employees have been trained in high-voltage technology for this transformation.
Before this process, MAN has already manufactured almost 200 electric pre-series trucks and delivered them to customers, with some vehicles already clocking up around two million kilometres in real use on European roads.
MAN Truck & Bus aims to become CO2-neutral by 2050. Electrifying the vehicle fleet is essential for achieving sustainability goals, as around 95 per cent of MAN’s total emissions are attributable to its vehicles in operation.
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