The charging infrastructure for all-electric trucks is of crucial importance for the success of the powertrain transformation in freight transport. In order for customers to be able to use them for their business, they need charging facilities that are publicly accessible and also available at depots, loading and unloading points or depots. MAN is making a variety of efforts to rapidly advance the necessary development of charging parks and charging stations.
The most recent example is MAN’s cooperation with E.ON and its subsidiary E.ON Drive Infrastructure. Together, the two companies are taking the expansion of the charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles in Germany and Europe a decisive step forward. As part of their cooperation, the energy group and the commercial vehicle manufacturer will set up around 170 locations with around 400 charging points for the public charging of electric trucks across Europe.
E.ON and MAN are investing in the new charging locations, which are being built along the existing MAN service network and at which commercial vehicles from other manufacturers can also charge publicly. Around 125 locations are planned in Germany alone. This will create the largest nationwide public charging network for heavy commercial vehicles in the country to date. E.ON and MAN are also setting up further locations in Austria, the UK, Denmark, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The fact that the first charging point was put into operation just a few months after the announcement shows just how serious the two partners are about realising this project. Two charging points for public charging are already available at the MAN service branch in Berlin-Wildau. In the coming weeks, two further locations will be put into operation in Karlsfeld, near the MAN headquarters in Munich, with a total of four charging points, and in Fürstenwalde with two charging points. It will be possible to charge with up to 400 kW at all charging points. The layout of the locations will be specially designed for charging electric commercial vehicles: This includes, among other things, a drive-through facility through the charging bay so that lorries do not have to manoeuvre. The plan is to have 80 locations equipped with publicly accessible charging infrastructure by the end of 2025.
At the end of August, MAN presented another flagship project together with its long-standing partner FC Bayern Munich. High-performance and megawatt charging points are to be built at the Allianz Arena in Munich in three planned expansion stages. A total of 30 charging points are planned. This will allow up to 500 electric buses and lorries to be charged every day. The background to this charging park project is that large football stadiums such as the Allianz Arena have a very powerful electricity grid that is only fully utilised on match days due to their high electricity requirements for floodlights, catering operations and other consumers. These are ideal conditions for setting up a commercial vehicle charging park.
Milence has already opened the first charging parks for battery-electric commercial vehicles and many more are in the pipeline. The joint venture between MAN parent company TRATON GROUP, Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group aims to build and operate 1,700 high-capacity public charging stations in Europe by 2027.
The public charging infrastructure for electric trucks is extremely important for widespread use. However, the ramp-up of electromobility in the truck sector will also require charging points at MAN’s customers or their customers’ premises. For predictable, regularly recurring routes or for vehicles that are always in the same depot after a shift, it makes sense to invest in charging points. MAN Transport Solutions plans the design of the charging infrastructure with the customer and develops an optimal energy supply strategy for each company. This is done in collaboration with partners Heliox (Siemens), SBRS (Shell) and ABB.
