Thomas Nickels, senior VP engineering at MAN, explained that the importance of cross-industry cooperation for the entire sector is particularly evident for the megawatt charging system (MCS).
“We are working with players from the entire sector to enable charging capacities in the megawatt range in the future and thus sustainable and economical long-distance heavy goods and passenger transport,” said Nickels. “By cooperating with ABB E-mobility, we can tackle the challenges of the new technology at an early stage and drive standardisation forward more quickly."
These challenges include the ISO15118-20 communication standard and new ways of transmitting signals. The basis for MCS is ethernet communication, which is being used for the first time in electromobility. Early software and interoperability tests with vehicles and charging stations should help to establish reliable products as quickly as possible in an emerging market environment. This is why the cooperation, which is initially scheduled to run for three years, is focusing on the customer experience right from the start, in addition to the internal development and further development of charging stations, vehicles and software.
"High charging performance, reliable technology and customer confidence – these are the prerequisites for the success of electromobility in heavy goods and long-distance passenger transport,” says Floris van de Klashorst, senior VP of products and hardware platforms at ABB E-mobility. “By working together with MAN right from the early product phase, we can respond even better to the needs of our customers. By 2025, we want to bring a product to the market that meets the requirements of logistics.
"The market needs an ecosystem that interlocks and works reliably,” van der Klashorst continued. “That's why we want to jointly develop a concept for the interaction of MCS and CCS that addresses issues such as space, energy supply and grid expansion. MAN's extensive expertise helps us to develop customer-oriented solutions – both for use in the depot and on the track."
The cooperation is not just limited to logistics van der Klashorst points out. "MCS will also be used in future in the travel sector, for example for motorhomes and coaches. This will bring additional challenges and a change in user behaviour."
MAN Truck & Bus is one of Europe's leading commercial vehicle manufacturers and providers of transport solutions with an annual turnover of around €11bn. The electric drive is already an integral part of the standard range of MAN buses and vans, and a comprehensive portfolio of series-produced electric trucks has been on sale since October 2023.
