The MAN Polarexpress, a battery-powered eTGX semitrailer truck, has successfully completed the 3400-kilometre journey from the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden to Munich. Despite the sometimes deep winter conditions with snow and ice, which required tyres with special grip and thus increased rolling resistance, the 32-tonne electric truck completed the entire route with an average consumption of just 117 kWh per 100 kilometres.
On sections of the route in Denmark and Germany with slightly warmer temperatures, consumption even fell to around 105 kWh. The range before recharging varied from around 400 to around 500 kilometres, meaning that the next charging station could always be reached safely, even in the Arctic Circle.
And the MAN Charge&Go charging card could be used to activate all of the charging stations controlled, regardless of the provider. The artic grey MAN eTGX consumed a total of 4500 kilowatt hours of electricity on the tour. It generated 670 kWh itself through energy recovery when braking and travelling downhill, which meant that a net total of only 3,830 kWh had to be supplied through charging.
The Polarexpress mainly used charging stations that are powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. The eTGX saved up to 2.7 tonnes of CO2 on its way from the Arctic Circle to the Allianz Arena compared to a comparable diesel articulated lorry with an assumed average consumption of 27 litres per 100 kilometres. There, FC Bayern legend Giovane Élber received the well-travelled electric truck on behalf of the club and its project to set up a high-performance charging park for electric trucks and buses in the local bus park, thereby making its own contribution to expanding the charging network for electric commercial vehicles.
‘The aim of the MAN Polarexpress was to show that a fully electric tour from the Arctic Circle to Munich is already possible today with the new MAN eTruck and the existing public charging infrastructure. Now we can say: mission accomplished! The vehicle technology is ready and there are numerous helpful solutions, such as MAN Charge&Go, to make it easier for our customers to switch from diesel to electric lorries. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to do in Europe! In order to realise the comprehensive drive transition in long-distance transport with millions of trucks, major efforts and investments are still needed to expand the necessary high-performance charging infrastructure. That’s why we also very much support FC Bayern’s initiative to utilise the good location and good power infrastructure of the Allianz Arena to set up a charging park for eTrucks and eBuses,’ says Friedrich Baumann, Executive Board Member for Sales & Customer Solutions at MAN Truck & Bus.
MAN eTGX: economical long-distance transport
The MAN Polarexpress was also able to prove its suitability for long-distance transport in terms of cost-effectiveness. With average public charging costs of around 56 cents per kWh over the entire route, the eTGX’s energy costs were roughly comparable to those of a modern diesel lorry. In identical use, this would have an average consumption of around 27 litres per 100 kilometres and a price of 1.80 euros per litre of diesel at the public filling station. However, AdBlue and toll costs would also have to be added. With cheaper public charging rates of between 40 and 50 cents per kilowatt hour already available today, the MAN eTruck would even have a cost advantage of between around 100 and 400 euros on the Polar Express route. If even cheaper depot charging is also available, for example at company-owned logistics hubs, the pendulum swings even more in favour of the electric truck.
Tour companion impressed by the MAN eTGX
The tour, which ran from 20 to 26 March, was accompanied by influencers André Brockschmidt (Bauforum 24) and Christina Scheib (Trucker Babes), who are well-known in the truck scene, as well as MAN Truckers World member and MAN classic car collector Rudolf Schweigert.They received expert driving guidance from MAN ProfiDrive trainers. Since the market launch of the MAN eTrucks, MAN’s driver training department has been providing practical support to entrepreneurs and drivers in the transition to the new drive technology.
André Brockschmidt accompanied the tour on the first stages from the Arctic Circle and was impressed by the truck’s performance even in cold conditions, but also by the ease of charging with MAN Charge&Go. ‘The question is: what about recharging in Europe?Is that a challenge, is that a problem? And the answer is: No! You simply have the charging card and it’s quick and easy. Activate the charging point, plug it in, wait a bit, then you can drive on!’
Christina Scheib accompanied the tour from Stockholm to Hamburg. She is particularly surprised by the silence of the electric drive: ‘You simply don’t hear the engine. It’s so quiet that you don’t know whether the engine is on or not.’ Overall, however, the tour with the eTGX completely won her over: ’I’m incredibly surprised at how uncomplicated it was to drive and charge the eTruck.’
And MAN fan Rudi Schweigert, who drove the eTruck from Hamburg to Munich, would have loved to add the electric lion to his 50 MAN classic cars: ‘I had a very positive experience driving the MAN eTGX. I now have to correct my thinking here!’
The tour details
The 3400-kilometre tour comprised a total of seven stages: from the Arctic Circle along the east coast of Sweden to Stockholm, from there through the interior of the country to Malmö in southern Sweden, on to Copenhagen and through Denmark to Hamburg and from there via Schweinfurt once through Germany to the finish point at the Allianz Arena in Munich. On average, the MAN eTGX covered between 400 and 600 kilometres a day, depending on the route conditions and available charging infrastructure. It made a longer stop at the MAN site in Copenhagen to visit the service and sales team there.
