MAN Truck & Bus
Living more sustainably, shaping an emission-free economy and protecting the planet. These are the goals of the Greentech Festival 2022 in Berlin. MAN was there with its entire electric fleet.
Over 200 exhibitors were represented during the three days, including start-ups, corporations, organisations and country representatives. All of whom showcased their sustainable solutions.
0 countries
Green change is international. The speakers and exhibitors came from 20 countries. In autumn, the festival will take place again in New York, London and Singapore.
The Greentech Festival is a platform which showcases sustainable innovations, under the motto #TogetherWeChange. Anyone who develops green technologies was invited to the event in Berlin. This includes everyone from start-ups to corporations, environmental activists to politicians, researchers and CEOs. “We want to bring the right people together and talk about green technologies,” said Judith Kühn-Gerres, CEO of the Greentech Festival. The biggest challenge, she said, is to convince the general public to support green technology. Some people still hold certain prejudices against Greentech, believing it to be expensive and therefore only affordable for the wealthy, for example.
Sustainability is needed at all levels and this was evident from the sheer number of exhibitors, which exceeded 200. It was not just about the production of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, but also about the production of suitable cardboard boxes for mail order, the effective recycling of marine plastics and clean air in inner cities. Over 13,000 visitors streamed through the grounds in Berlin over the three days and were shuttled to the event by the all-electric MAN eBus E, among others. One of these 13,000 visitors was Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner: “It is precisely the pioneering approaches and ideas, as presented here by start-ups to large corporations, that are needed to move our country forward.” The thinking behind the festival was that climate neutrality will not be achieved by going without, but rather through the development of new technologies that function in a CO2-neutral way. “The positive power and great spirit we can experience here is incredible.” said Nico Rosberg, co-founder of the festival.
Sustainable innovations, future-proof technologies, packed halls - and MAN right in the middle with its electric vehicles. The video highlights of the Greentech Festival 2022 in Berlin.
The exhibitions were presented in the former hangar of Tegel Airport. The location is symbolic because of the current demands on the mobility sector to offer sustainable, emission-free solutions.
An old airport became a new hotspot for innovation. Since 2019, the festival has been held annually in Berlin – this year at the Urban Tech Republic. After Tegel Airport closed in 2020, the industrial site continues to be used as an urban event venue.
The idea for the festival came about in 2018. Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg has been investing in green technologies since the end of his driving career. “The only way to unleash the huge potential of Greentech is to inspire as many people as possible about it,” Rosberg said. “We need to accelerate the change enormously.”
Sustainability affects us all! We at MAN are also converting our product portfolio to alternative drives. We need to credibly communicate our goals for the future to our customers.
This bus stop offers purified air to all those waiting. The manufacturer MANN+HUMMEL has installed its filters here, which remove fine dust and nitrogen dioxide.
In the future, this air taxi will transport people through cities using hydrogen propulsion. The model from the company NEX is a quarter of the size of the planned aircraft. It will be able to take off and land vertically. The company is also developing safety solutions, because with many air taxis the airspace will become crowded.
In the “IdeasTrainCity”, Deutsche Bahn showed what new kinds of trains could look like. If more people are to travel by public transport in the future, it has to become more comfortable and flexible. For example, the chairs can be folded in and out to create different seating groups. At peak times, many standing places are available for commuters, at off-peak times more seats with a feel-good atmosphere.
Society is becoming increasingly mobile and individual. It is also changing how it uses transport. The Greentech Festival showed which standards will soon apply, such as the air in inner cities becoming cleaner. People want more quality of life, better health and less noise. Festival visitors were able to test drive various car models and see for themselves how quiet and pleasant electric drives are. The debate also focused on the design of city centres, which are to be relieved of individual traffic. Sharing models are to become more attractive, public transport is to be strengthened and more people are to switch to bicycles and e-scooters.
At the same time, delivery traffic is increasing. For the transport sector, MAN has a vision of completely electrifying customers’ fleets in the near future. Instead of setting up a classic exhibition stand at the festival, MAN decided to allow visitors to experience its entire electric fleet. This includes the electric Lion’s City E public service bus, the electric eTGE van and the electric eTGM truck. By doing so, MAN wants to show its customers how they can make their business models sustainable. And by using the shuttle service, visitors to the festival could experience first-hand how quiet an e-bus can be.
MAN provided two electric buses for the festival, which also served as a shuttle service. These are the MAN Lion’s City E as a 12-metre-long regular service bus and the articulated bus with a length of 18 metres.
0 models
MAN showed three models of its electric fleet in Tegel: the Lion’s City E electric bus, the Lkw eTGM truck and the eTGE van.
The MAN Lion’s City E brought visitors to the festival. Two buses ran as a shuttle from Berlin’s Jungfernheide S-Bahn station to the Urban Tech Republic. The air-conditioned shuttle was well received in the summery-hot 32 degrees Celsius. “I think the service is good, you get a whisper-quiet ride right up to the entrance,” said one visitor.
The electric city bus has a range of 350 kilometres and a very comfortable, modern interior, which was also confirmed by festival visitors.
At the festival, the electric truck served as an exclusive DJ stage. Typically, the MAN eTGM is ideal for inner-city delivery traffic. The production model of the electric truck from MAN will be launched in 2024 and will then have a range of 600 to 800 kilometres.
We need change, especially in the truck industry and in heavy goods transport. That’s where I hope you make great progress at MAN.
The Greentech Festival is an informal exchange of ideas between manufacturers. The products can be tried out directly and ideas become tangible. “As large as we are at MAN, I think we can learn from the idea of the small companies here.” says Stefan Sahlmann.
Formula 1 world champion and festival founder Nico Rosberg took a close look at MAN’s electric truck. He wished for fully autonomous trucks very soon. Stefan Sahlmann was able to take this wish straight back to Munich.
With the eTGE electric van, MAN offers an innovative way to reduce emissions in delivery traffic. Thanks to flexible charging technologies, you can feed the eTGE with new electricity almost anywhere – even at a 230V socket at home.
The Greentech Festival gave us exciting insights into various technologies, such as self-sufficient charging options. But we also got completely new impulses on the topic of energy supply and energy offers.
The advantages of the eTGE are particularly evident on urban routes as it drives so quietly. In city centres it has free passage, even in restricted environmental zones. Thanks to the wide range of body options, the load area can be used in a highly individual way.
Stefan Sahlmann reported on MAN’s ambitions on the Solution Stage of the festival: “Currently, 98 percent of our emissions are generated indirectly when customers use our vehicles – calculated over the lifetime of the vehicle. That is why it is clear that we have to do something about this.”
