Mercedes-Benz eActros LongHaul to be unveiled in September

In just a few months, Mercedes-Benz will bring to the IAA Transportation show in Stuttgart its first all-electric long distance truck. It is called eActros LongHaul and it was first announced back in 2020 - this time we will see the “concept prototype”, which will be a preview of the new design theme for the upcoming production truck.

This new truck is part of a large fleet of test vehicles that later this year will be tested on public roads. Later in 2023 the vehicles will be handed to selected customers for real life duty testing before expected market launch in 2024.

The eActros is expected to have 500km range, which is still significantly lower than Tesla Semi but is sufficient enough for European conditions. It will come with the recently announced Megawatt charging (MCS) allowing it to recharge in time comparable with a passenger vehicle.

The eActros LongHaul won’t be the only truck presented to the public in Stuttgart. Mercedes is bringing along the “normal” eActros which is aimed at the heavy-duty distribution. This vehicle is already available and it has been in production since October last year. Another smaller truck - the eConic - will follow in July and is aimed at municipal services. The company is committed to increasing the number of CO2 neutral commercial vehicles in Europe to 50% by 2030.

The eActros LongHaul is using lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells due to their higher longevity. The company claims the battery on the truck can be recharged from 20% to 80% in less than half an hour. In reality it would mean the driver would have to stop every 300 km or so to recharge the truck - which plays very well with European truck driving limits.

Mercedes-Benz spent a lot of time researching the long haul industry in Europe and the truck is the result of it. According to the company, the majority of distance covered by drivers within driving hours is way less than 500 km before the legally required break of 45 minutes. On paper it seems like this is going to be a perfect truck for Europe.

Daimler Truck (MB) together with Volvo Group and Traton Group have set up a joint-venture to establish a network of public charging stations for the long haul industry. The network will use the MCS standard just as the trucks will and it will be available to all electric trucks regardless of brand.

New eActros is the pioneer of all-electric trucks from Mercedes that eventually will be available in Europe, Japan and will come to North America by 2039. Daimler Turck is introducing the Freightliner eCascadia later this year to the American market that is meant to directly compete with Tesla Semi. The company is still planning to introduce hydrogen-fueled cell drives to a range of its vehicles but the battery powered fleet is growing fast.

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