eActros 600 series production: battery-powered truck with a range of 500 km

The eActros 600, the first battery-electric truck for long-distance transportation, has gone into series production at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth. The vehicle is designed to have a long range of 500 kilometers without intermediate charging. Daimler Truck, the world's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, claims to have tested this under realistic and practical conditions with a gross combination weight of 40 tons. 600 stands for the battery capacity of 600 kilowatt hours (KW).

After the eActros 300/400 and the eEconic, the 600 is already the third battery-electric truck model to go into series production at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth. With one difference: the eActros 600 will be manufactured on the existing assembly line of the Wörth A-series production, alongside diesel-powered trucks. Its complete assembly takes place in a production hall, so that the entire system is commissioned at the end of the line. The siblings have to leave the production hall for the electric drive components. According to Daimler Truck, they are electrified at the Future Truck Center in Wörth.

2.5 times more expensive than diesel trucks

The Daimler Truck plants in Mannheim, Kassel and Gaggenau also supply important components such as the electric axle, transmission components and the front box for the battery-electric drive.

Daimler Truck intends to send the first models of the eActros 600 to branches and dealerships as demonstration vehicles. In an interview with Der Spiegel, project manager Michael Wolf admitted that the eActros will then cost around 2.5 times as much as its diesel counterpart.

Daimler Truck has ambitious plans. The company plans to convert its entire range of trucks and buses in Europe, the USA and Japan to CO₂-neutral operation by 2039. The company is pursuing a dual strategy with hydrogen and battery-powered vehicles.

(ssi)