MAN eTGX completes test drive from the Arctic Circle to Germany
As the electric truck had to sometimes drive in the freezing cold and on icy roads, it required tyres with more grip that increased rolling resistance. Nevertheless, the vehicle consumed an average of 117 kWh per 100 kilometres – a figure with which the manufacturer is content. In warmer sections of the route in Denmark and Germany, energy consumption even fell to 105 kWh per 100 km.
Overall, the eTGX consumed 4,500 kWh during the entire trip, says MAN. “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.”
Speaking of charging: MAN emphasises that it only used public charging infrastructure on the trip to prove a point.
“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,” said Friedrich Baumann, Executive Board Member for Sales & Customer Solutions at MAN Truck & Bus. “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.”
According to the manufacturer, the “range before recharging varied from around 400 to around 500 kilometres,” which is more than enough to always reach the next charge point, even during a long-haul. Moreover, at around 56 cents per kWh over the entire route, energy costs are nearly on par with a comparable diesel model, MAN continues. And as prices at the charger are as low as 40 or 50 cents per kWh and electric trucks could be charged at the depot, driving an electric eTGX would even be cheaper than the diesel variant. “The pendulum swings even more in favour of the electric truck,” the company concluded.
Nevertheless, there is still a lot to be done in Europe, Baumann emphasised. “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,” he said. A sentiment shared by others in the field.
MAN is not the first manufacturer to drive to the Artic Circle using public charging infrastructure. While its eTGX was only on the road for six days (from 20 to 26 March), Daimler Truck hit the road for a total of 45 days, driving through 22 countries in two eActros 600 last year.
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