World premiere of battery-electric long-haul eActros 600

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has unveiled the production version of its first battery-electric long-haul truck.

The manufacturer presented the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 today to an international audience at an event south of Hamburg. With this heavy-duty electric truck, the Mercedes-Benz plans to define the new standard in road freight transport in terms of technology, sustainability, design and profitability for e-fleet operators.

The high battery capacity of more than 600 kilowatt hours – hence the model designation 600 – and a new more efficient electric drive axle developed in-house, enable the e-truck to achieve a range of 500 kilometres without intermediate charging.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks says the eActros 600 will be able to travel more than 1000 kilometres per day using charging during legally-prescribed driver breaks – even without megawatt-charging.

The truck is designed for a gross combination weight of up to 44 tonnes. With a single trailer, the eActros 600 has a payload of around 22 tonnes in Europe, and in some cases, national law may permit a higher payload.

Order books for the eActros 600 will open this year with the start of series production planned for the end of 2024.

In addition to the prime mover, Mercedes-Benz Trucks will also produce rigid variants of the eActros 600 right from market launch, offering customers further possible applications for all-electric transport. A fleet of around fifty prototype vehicles is currently being built, some of which are also going to be put into practical testing with customers.

“The eActros 600 stands for the transformation of road freight transport towards CO2-neutrality like no other truck with a three-pointed star,” said Karin Radstrom, CEO Mercedes-Benz Trucks.

“It is characterised by highly innovative drive technology that can offer our customers particularly high energy efficiency and thus profitability. This makes entry into e-mobility even more attractive for fleet operators,” Ms Randstrom added.

The eActros 600 has three battery packs, each with 207 kWh, giving an installed total capacity of 621 kWh. The batteries are based on lithium iron phosphate cell technology (LFP) and are characterised by a long service life.

The development engineers at Mercedes-Benz Trucks have designed the eActros 600 to meet the same requirements on the durability of the vehicle and components as a comparable conventional heavy-duty long-haul Actros. That means up to 1.2 million kilometres in ten years of operation. After this, the battery’s state of health should still be over 80 per cent.

In contrast to other battery cell technologies, approximately 95 per cent of the installed capacity can be used with LFP technology. This makes a higher range with the same installed battery capacity possible.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has developed a new 800-volt electric axle with two electric motors and a four-speed transmission specifically for use in heavy-duty long-haul transport. The electric motors generate a continuous output of 400kW as well as a peak output of 600kW and ensure powerful acceleration, high driving comfort and high driving dynamics. The full motor output is available most of the time with almost no interruption in torque.

In addition, with an anticipatory driving style, electrical energy can be recovered through regen braking, which is fed back into the batteries of the eActros 600 and is then available again for the drive system.

This puts less strain on the brakes of the eActros 600, which can save on service costs.

The driver can choose between five regenerative braking levels. One-pedal driving can also be optionally enabled on the touchscreen in the digital cockpit – that is, deceleration by means of recuperation with reduced actuation of the mechanical brake.

The eActros 600 features the tried-and-tested Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC) cruise and transmission control, which is specially tuned to the electric drive system.

The anticipatory drivetrain control automatically takes into account the topography, course of the road and traffic signs for the most efficient style of driving. Route information from the navigation system is now included to facilitate better recognition of the situation on the road ahead. This allows the driver to avoid unnecessary braking, accelerating and shifting and to exploit the battery energy as efficiently as possible.

The eActros 600 will be produced on the existing assembly line at the largest truck assembly plant of Mercedes-Benz Trucks in Wörth am Rhein – alongside the trucks that will continue to be equipped with a diesel drive.

In Wörth, it will also be equipped with the electric drive components from the Mercedes-Benz plants in Mannheim, Gaggenau and Kassel. Like the Wörth site, the three locations are also undergoing a transformation from diesel technology to competence centres for emission-free transport.

Installation in Wörth takes place in several production steps, including the installation of the electric axle, the high-voltage batteries and the front box, which is a complex technology module with several control units, high-voltage components and an electric air compressor.

Once all high-voltage components have been installed, the entire system goes into operation and the truck is ready to drive.

A spokesman for Daimler Trucks Australia said that it was an exciting time for the company, although when it would come to Australia and in what form was yet to be decided.