Between December and March, MAN integrated the upcoming large-series e-truck into its annual winter testing in northern Sweden. The manufacturer claims the tests proved its electric vehicle is suitable for daily ranges of between 600 and 800 kilometres, and also works without problems in ice, snow, and temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.
MAN says that the focus areas of the tests, which involved thousands of kilometres of travel, were driving functions and range, air conditioning and charging behaviour.
“The winter tests were a complete success. Our engineers literally put the new eTruck through its paces day and night under the toughest conditions. The maturity level is already extremely high and the development team is working with great passion on the further trials to provide our customers with an optimal product for the switch to CO2-free road freight transport,” said Dr Frederik Zohm, Executive Board Member for Research and Development at MAN Trucks & Bus.
Around 30 test engineers took part in the tests, which saw the truck put through its paces in freezing cold weather with snowstorms and only a few hours of daylight.
The engineers monitored overall energy management, the cooling and thermal management of the battery packs, the interaction and control of the powertrain components, as well as the charging behaviour under the extreme winter conditions.
“Interdisciplinary teams are the key to making the eTruck ready for all customer requirements and operating conditions. Our goal is to be able to cover a large part of today’s application portfolio electrically with the new eTruck. The CO2-free long-distance transport of refrigerated goods in the classic semitrailer combination will be just as possible as the collection of milk from the organic farmer with the electric food tanker or the low-noise and emission-free waste disposal in the city,” explained Rainer Miksch, Vice President Vehicle Testing, MAN Truck & Bus.
According to MAN, the winter test was just the beginning of a series of numerous vehicle and component tests that will put the new MAN eTruck through its paces until its market launch.
The truck manufacturer stresses that batteries have to prove their resistance to open fire, immersion in water, and a free fall to the ground. Moreover, individual components, as well as the entire vehicle, have to pass demanding crash tests. On top of this, there are noise measurements and tests on electromagnetic compatibility.
In addition to the aforementioned winter test, MAN says the new eTruck will cover many hundreds of thousands of kilometres in continuous operation on European roads.
This includes so-called hot-land testing in the south of Spain with outside temperatures well above plus 40 degrees and strong sunlight, which heats components to the extreme and places very specific demands on the temperature control of the batteries, the charging management system and also the powertrain components.
