MAN Truck & Bus
Nothing moves without a battery. Neither an electric truck like the new MAN eTruck, nor an electric bus like theMAN Lion’s City E, recently crowned "Bus of the Year (BotY) 2023". And it’s quite simple: the energy is missing. The traction battery is a decisive factor in the drive of an electric vehicle and therefore also plays a major role in the NewMAN strategy The key concept here is ‘Zero Emission’. This is because the future of delivery and public transport will also be electric.
MAN Truck & Bus is therefore taking the production of energy storage units into its own hands, for the electrification of its fleet. They are doing so at the eMobility Technical Centre at the Nuremberg site, where 100,000 high-voltage battery packs are soon to be produced annually. Engineering, development, production – everything in-house and under one roof. Construction of the new production hall is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2023 and should be ready for occupancy a year later. The first battery pack is expected to be completed in February 2025 in Nuremberg. Over five years, MAN will be investing around 100 million euros in the entire process.
0 High-voltage battery packs
are soon to be produced annually at the Nuremberg site.
0 Million euros
invested by MAN in the series production of battery packs in Nuremberg.
The production of up to 100,000 battery packs in Nuremberg will be strongly synchronised with the sister plant in Munich – creating 350 highly-qualified jobs.
MAN will be building prototypes of the high-voltage batteries in smaller quantities in the near future, in order to be prepared for the production of the new eTruck.
All battery tests 100% positive to date
“We produce batteries which are optimised for commercial vehicles, and which will fully meet the expectations of future customers, especially in terms of safety,” says Dr Michael Bernath, who heads the development of the new traction batteries at MAN. “All the tests, including the sensitive high-voltage components, have been 100% positive so far.”
“In preparation for large-scale production, we have already been manufacturing prototype batteries in the Technical Centre since 2021, which we will then be able to produce in small quantities by the end of the year,” adds Markus Pröpster, head of the eMobility Technical Centre in Nuremberg. “The new MAN eTruck should be delivered to selected customers as early as 2024.” Critical, quality-relevant processes are already being tested and automated now, so that they can be smoothly applied later for larger quantities.
The production facility complements the MAN eMobility Centre at the main plant in Munich, which opened in 2021. “With the go-ahead for the production of battery packs in Nuremberg and in conjunction with the production of eTrucks at MAN’s Munich site, we have created a commercial vehicle e-cluster that will secure MAN’s future,” said Alexander Vlaskamp, Chairman of MAN Truck & Bus SE, at the laying of the foundation stone on 29 June 2022.
All tests, including the sensitive high-voltage components, have so far been 100% positive.
Megawatt charging is another building block for the future suitability of MAN‘s fully electric commercial vehicles for long-distance transport.
Six battery packs power a heavy eTruck
The energy storage systems used by MAN are lithium-ion modules with nickel, manganese and cobalt. Each battery pack consists of battery cells, grouped into modules and combined together in individual layers. “We have three variants for trucks and buses, depending on customer needs,” Bernath explains. It is already MAN’s third generation battery, he says, with more power, more energy, a higher daily range and a longer service life. “We have also benefited from the experience and synergies in the VW and TRATON Group,” says the power unit expert.
“Above all, the proximity to Audi in Ingolstadt helped us a lot,” says Pröpster. “Many MAN employees who came from the engine sector were trained there and now assemble batteries for us. The know-how that has been passed on is immensely important for job security at the Nuremberg site, which was previously purely an engine production facility.” According to Bernath, other experts from MAN Munich, but also from outside the group, have also played their part in the development. “It’s nice to see what has been created.” A total of 350 future-proof jobs are to be created in the Franconian city in production alone.
Battery cells become modules, and then become packs in a flexible system with three variants.
In preparation for large-scale production, we have already been manufacturing prototype batteries in the Technical Centre since 2021, which we will then be able to produce in small quantities by the end of the year.
0 kilometres
daily range will make MAN fully suitable for long-distance transport as early as 2026.
0 kilowatt hours
is the capacity of the battery on the MAN Lion’s City 12 E, which can take it up to 350 kilometres on one charge if driven in the right way.
Battery progress important for megawatt charging
The progress in batteries from MAN goes hand in hand with the research and development of megawatt charging, which the commercial vehicle manufacturer is pushing in parallel. After all, the powerpacks are intended to power heavy trucks in particular, like the MAN eTruck, which will promise a daily range of 600 to 800 kilometres when it enters the market. By 2026, a daily range of as much as 1,000 kilometres will make the trucks fully suitable for long-distance transport.
But the “Bus of the Year 2023” will also be equipped with the new generation battery later on. The MAN Lion’s City 12 E has a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of up to 480 kilowatt hours (kWh) on board, which can already take it up to 350 kilometres on one charge. The all-electric city bus also proved its endurance and reliability on the Electrifying Europe Tour, during which it drove almost 2,500 kilometres on its own axis across Europe in ten stages.
In addition to production, MAN is also working on the after-use strategy for its batteries, so that they can be used resource-efficiently and put to subsequent use. In the so-called first life of the batteries, the focus is on training customers to drive, charge and use the vehicles in a battery-friendly way. This can significantly increase the service life of the battery. In the event of a defect, repair is the first measure to be taken.
A second life as buffer storage
If battery packs in a vehicle can no longer be used as traction batteries, they will be put to subsequent use. As things stand today, there are three options for this. Firstly, they can be reused in another vehicle (second use), as long as they still have sufficient charging capacity. Secondly, a second battery life (Second Life), for example as buffer storage for solar or wind power plants is possible. MAN is currently researching with various partners and the University of Kassel whether used truck batteries are suitable as stationary storage units.
Thirdly, recycling comes into play after the second-life application, or if batteries are no longer suitable for storage applications after an accident. For this purpose, MAN is part of the Volkswagen Group’s recycling network, with partners throughout Europe. The declared aim is to achieve a closed cycle for the raw materials – in keeping with MAN’s efforts for sustainability. The recovered raw materials such as nickel, manganese, cobalt or lithium will then flow into the new production of batteries.
