The developers of Mercedes-Benz Trucks have for the first time charged the latest and most modern eActros 600 electric truck prototype with one megawatt (MW) of power.
In recent years, many people have looked at the emergence of battery-based electric trucks with a lot of squeamishness and reservations, but thanks to them, they are very good. The technology in such trucks is constantly developing, and the previously presented types are also constantly moving towards experiences that can be obtained in everyday life. One of the experts in electric trucks, Mercedes-Benz, is the same with the eActros 600, which is one of the company’s most serious electric trucks.
On October 10, 2023, in the southern part of Hamburg, Mercedes-Benz presented its production-ready 100 percent electric truck, the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600, designed for long-distance transport. According to the manufacturer’s plans, the heavy-duty electric vehicle lays new foundations for road freight transport; technology, sustainability, design and profitability for e-fleet managers.
The model number 600 comes from the vehicle’s large battery capacity of more than 600 kilowatt hours. And Mercedes-Benz’s own, particularly efficient electric drive shaft enables the purely electric truck to reach a range of up to 500 kilometers without recharging. This means that the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 will be able to travel up to 1,000 kilometers per day with intermediate charging during legally required driver rest periods – even without megawatt charging.
The interesting part starts from here, with charging with a power of 1 megawatt per hour, which makes it possible to use gigantic battery packs like the 600 kWh unit of the eActros. The developers of Mercedes-Benz Trucks recently charged the eActros 600 prototype with a power of 1 megawatt at a charging station developed for this capacity at the company’s development and test center in Wörth am Rhein, Germany.
Apart from what can be learned in the press material, the company did not really provide additional information about the charging process. It is still not clear how long the eActros 600 prototype hung on the charger, or what the charging characteristics of this huge battery pack are, but there is no information about the hardware of the charger either. The attached press photos only show the charging station from the back. In response to the electrical question, the company’s spokesperson only said that with this method the battery charges from 20 to 80 percent in about 30 minutesbut for “competition law reasons” we cannot provide further details at the moment.
“The first successful megawatt charging test with our e-truck is a huge step forward” says Peter Ziegler, Head of E-Charging Components at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. “Within the industry, charging capacity above 700 kilowatts is already referred to as MCS charging. However, we are aware of the importance of our customers being able to charge the eActros 600 with the full 1000 kilowatts and thus benefit from short charging times with a long range. We are currently working at full speed to bring the MCS technology in our eActros 600 to series maturity.”
