MAN Truck & Bus have announced that from the beginning of 2025 it will manufacture high-voltage batteries for electric trucks and buses in large-scale production at its Nuremberg site.
The company will invest around €100 million over the next five years at the site that is traditionally known for the production of combustion engines. The development of electric vehicle (EV) battery production here will also secure 350 jobs offering a promising future.
Production capacities are expanded to over 100,000 batteries per year. Initially, the batteries will be manufactured manually at the MAN plant in Nuremberg in a small series production for about two and a half years.
Construction of large-scale production is scheduled to start in mid-2023 and to be completed by the end of 2024. With this, MAN is laying the foundations for the large-scale industrialisation of electric drive systems for trucks and buses.
The commercial vehicle manufacturer is receiving support from the Bavarian State Government. They have promised a contribution of around €30 million to energy research and technology funding for the period 2023 to 2027.
These funds will be used to conduct research in battery assembly, cell chemistry and development, battery safety, and ultimately battery recycling to ensure the sustainability of the propulsion mode.
Alexander Vlaskamp, MAN Truck & Bus SE chairman of the executive board said: “We are now starting to industrialise electromobility and continue on our path to climate-neutral mobility in commercial vehicles. It is a groundbreaking location and investment decision for the next decades. At the same time, it is part of MAN’s transformation into a provider of sustainable transport solutions.
“This now paves the way for a commercial vehicle e-cluster “made in Bavaria”, consisting of the production of e-trucks at MAN in Munich, battery production in Nuremberg, research & development at both locations and excellent cooperation with the respective colleges, universities and institutes.”
The batteries being developed will initially give MAN’s electric trucks a range of 370-500 miles (600-800km). In the next generation of battery technology, ranges of up to 620 miles (1,000km) are expected from around 2026. This will make the electric truck suitable for all long-distance transport.
Markus Wansch, Chairman of the Nuremberg Works Council, said: “Our industry is undergoing a profound transformation. Our workforce is rightly asking: What are the perspectives?
“That is why it is such good news that together we have succeeded in establishing battery series production in Nuremberg. This goes to show that the future of Nuremberg as a location will also rest on the pillar of electromobility.”
MAN believes that around the middle of the current decade, the total cost of ownership for an electric truck and a diesel-powered one will be at the same level. MAN, therefore, expects customer demand for electric vehicles to increase significantly by then at the latest.
The production of heavy electric trucks will start at MAN in Munich at the beginning of 2024. The manufacturer has already put a small series on the road in 2019. MAN has also had fully electric city buses and vans on the market for some time.
With its electrification, a new chapter is now beginning for the Nuremberg production and development site. This will also increasingly take on tasks within the TRATON GROUP. With the start of battery production, MAN Truck & Bus is strengthening its position in the TRATON GROUP as a competence partner for electromobility.
