Tell us about MAN’s partnership with E.ON regarding EV charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles?
Energy company E.ON and MAN Truck & Bus are jointly taking a decisive step forward in the expansion of the charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles in Germany and Europe. As part of our new cooperation, we will set up around 170 locations with about 400 stations for public charging of electric trucks across Europe.
E.ON and MAN are investing in the new charging stations, which will be built along the existing MAN service network and will also be able to charge commercial vehicles from other manufacturers. Around 125 sites are planned in Germany alone. This will create the largest nationwide public charging network for heavy commercial vehicles in the country to date.
Will we see these new EV charge points in the UK too?
Yes, additional sites are being built in the UK, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. For the mobility transition to be successful, we need around 50,000 charging points for heavy commercial vehicles in Europe by 2030. As a manufacturer of electric trucks, we are of course making our contribution to this.
I am delighted that E.ON is now a strong partner for the electrification of our service locations. We are thus laying another foundation stone for a public charging network. However, we still urgently need the support of policymakers to build this network on a large scale.
Where will the chargers be located and what will the sites look like?
The new sites will be located at strategically selected MAN service bases, primarily in industrial areas with high truck volumes or near motorways. This means that public charging can be easily integrated into daily operations.
The layout of the sites will be specially designed for charging electric commercial vehicles: This includes a drive-through facility through the charging station so that trucks and buses do not have to manoeuvre. Wherever possible, the stations will be installed in separate areas from the MAN service operations – with separate entrances and exits for the charging area – to ensure that they are accessible to the public, regardless of the make of vehicle. During the day, drivers will also benefit from the existing infrastructure, such as sanitary facilities and recreation rooms.
The sites will be built in a modular fashion. As a first step, each site will be equipped with several 400 kW charging stations. This will allow an average electric truck to recharge for a range of up to 300 kilometres in about 45 minutes. Later, the sites will be upgraded to the MCS megawatt charging system.
The first 80 sites of the new charging network are to be built by the end of 2025
How important is it that MAN and E.ON get this EV charging infrastructure in place?
The EU recently agreed to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles by 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2040 compared to 2019 levels. Against this backdrop, the industry is investing heavily in vehicles and infrastructure.
The electrification of MAN’s product portfolio is gathering pace. The first production-ready electric truck with a daily range of up to 800 kilometres is in the starting blocks for 2024. The range of the electric city bus will be extended by a product update next year. We also plan to put our first test fleet of electric coaches on the road in 2025.
Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus
