It’s a tradition that Daimler Truck opens the media day at IAA Transportation, the international trucking show that is held this week in Hannover, Germany.
Karin Radstrom, the new chief executive officer of Daimler, replacing Martin Daum as Oct. 1, introduced the company’s highlight at the year IAA: the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600.
New Daimler CEO Karin Radstrom speaks at IAA. (Photo: Steve Bouchard)
This is not a prototype or a test vehicle, but a truck that is ready for series production and Daimler has completed extensive testing in Europe with two eActos across 22 countries, accumulating more than 15,000 kilometers carrying 40 tons.
Over the entire trip, the eActros showed an average consumption of 103 kWh/100 km, corresponding to a diesel consumption of less than 10 liters per 100 kilometers, which is less than half of what a modern truck actually consumes.
The name 600 comes from its ability to achieve more than 600 kilometers on one charge, which the eActros achieved on many days during the test trips.
“That makes this truck ready for longhaul transportation, and longhaul is the decisive segment when it comes to decarbonization. This is a great truck, and it can replace diesel,” said the new CEO.
The eActros comes with three battery packs totaling 621 kilowatt hours. The batteries use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells which, Radstrom said, last more than 1.2 million kilometers or 10 years in operation.
“Another benefit of LFP is that you can use 95% of the installed capacity, which means that the truck doesn’t carry any extra weight from batteries that cannot be used,” she added.
Daimler also introduced a new electric drive axle, developed in-house specifically for electromobility.
Stina Fagerman, head of marketing, sales and service at Mercedes-Benz Trucks, stressed that getting more charging infrastructure is a priority.
(Photo: Steve Bouchard)
“We assist in planning and designing network charging that includes supporting getting grid connection and getting the right partners on board. We are now a partner with Alpitronic selling fast charging stations,” said Fagerman.
Daimler also help to identify public funding opportunities that provide financial assistance for the truck and relevant infrastructure.
“Operation of electric trucks obviously bring changes to our customers’ daily routines and lots of changes,” said Max Schlitchter, truck trainer and sales consultant at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. “So we also want to accompany our customers on their everyday operations.”
One specific service that Daimler introduced is the Fleetboard Charge Management service, which provides customers full transparency on the charging process.
“They get all the relevant information from the charging stations directly where they need them, and they can also tell the charging stations when, how and which trucks to charge,” said Schlitchter.
Customers have told Daimler they are still concerned about the lack of public charging.
“And it is true. Public infrastructure remains a bottleneck to pick up speed,” said Fagerman. “We’re committing ourselves to initiatives like our joint venture with Volvo and Traton aiming to build at least 1,700 charging spots across Europe by 2027.”
Daimler is gaining momentum in with energy transition, but acknowledges that it will take some time, and the speed will differ between regions.
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