Mercedes-Benz reveals its first electric truck

The Mercedes-Benz eActros will be a key part of Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ plan to switch completely to electric power for all models in Europe by 2039.

Revealed in Stuttgart yesterday, the battery-powered eActros is the first all-electric truck to wear the three-pointed star badge.

A heavy-duty truck designed for short-haul distribution, the eActros is central to the German auto-maker’s aim of providing CO2-neutral road freight logistics amid tightening emission regulations and increasing global transport volume.

Incorporating all of the learnings from the ‘eActros innovation fleet’ and feedback from customers, the Mercedes-Benz eActros will enter production at Daimler’s Worth am Rhein truck plant in Germany from September.

It will be followed by other battery-electric (EV) and fuel-cell electric (FCEV) heavy vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, including the low-floor eEconic in 2022, the eActros LongHaul in 2024 and the hydrogen-powered GenH2 Truck in the second half of this decade.

For now, the Mercedes-Benz eActros brings all of features seen in the current diesel Actros, including MirrorCam, a full safety suite and the Multimedia Cockpit.

Safety features will include SideGuard Assist, which alerts drivers to cyclists or pedestrians in their blind spot when turning off to the left, and the Active Brake Assist autonomous emergency braking system.

However, the eActros brings a powertrain comprising a rigid axle with two integrated electric motors and a two-speed transmission. Both liquid-cooled motors generate continuous output of 330kW and top performance of 400kW (536hp).

Series-production trucks will be fitted with either three or four battery packs, each with a capacity of around 105kWh, providing a maximum battery capacity of 420kWh, which translates to a range of up to 400km.

Using a 400A DC fast-charger, the triple-battery pack will need a little over an hour to charge from 20 to 80 per cent capacity.

The eActros will be available as a two- or three-axle truck with GVMs of 19 or 27 tonnes respectively. No tare weights were revealed at launch, so at this stage we don’t know what the load-carrying capacity of the trucks will be. Suffice to say that the big battery packs will take up a fair bit of the payload.

In 2018, the first eActros prototypes were handed over to various customers around Europe for practical testing. The aim of this ‘eActros innovation fleet’ was to create a market-ready and production-ready electric truck for heavy-duty short-radius distribution from 2021.

Out of this, aspects such as the energy requirements in various operating scenarios and the efficiency of the eActros prototypes were determined. The development and testing of the prototypes from the innovation fleet were funded, in part, by various German government departments.

After more than two years, the main finding from the pilot project was that performance of the prototypes was impressive. Drivers were particularly pleased with the continuous availability of torque across the entire speed range, as well as the quiet running and the smooth driving experience.

“It was customer co-creation in its purest form,” said Mercedes-Benz.

Initially, the series-production version of the Mercedes-Benz eActros will be available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Further markets, including Australia, will follow.

Commenting on local availability of the eActros, Mercedes-Benz Truck and Bus Australia/Pacific Director, Andrew Assimo said: “We are very excited about ground-breaking Mercedes-Benz electric trucks and buses, including the pioneering eActros.

“We are not yet in a position to confirm any local electric model introductions, but are certainly working towards making these exciting vehicles available in Australia at the appropriate time.”

There is no word in how much the eActros will cost Down Under either, but it will certainly be pricier than the diesel version in the absence of government incentives for operators of alternative-fuel commercial vehicles, so sales will be initially be slow.