The MAN Polarexpress, a battery-powered eTGX semitrailer truck, has successfully completed the 3400-kilometre journey from the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden to Munich. Despite the sometimes deep winter conditions with snow and ice, which required tyres with special grip and thus increased rolling resistance, the 32-tonne electric truck completed the entire route with an average consumption of just 117 kWh per 100 kilometres. On sections of the route in Denmark and Germany with slightly warmer temperatures, consumption even fell to around 105 kWh. The range before recharging varied from around 400 to around 500 kilometres, meaning that the next charging station could always be reached safely, even in the Arctic Circle.  

And the MAN Charge&Go charging card could be used to activate all of the charging stations controlled, regardless of the provider. The artic grey MAN eTGX consumed a total of 4500 kilowatt hours of electricity on the tour. It generated 670 kWh itself through energy recovery when braking and travelling downhill, which meant that a net total of only 3,830 kWh had to be supplied through charging. The Polarexpress mainly used charging stations that are powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. The eTGX saved up to 2.7 tonnes of CO2 on its way from the Arctic Circle to the Allianz Arena compared to a comparable diesel articulated lorry with an assumed average consumption of 27 litres per 100 kilometres. There, FC Bayern legend Giovane Élber received the well-travelled electric truck on behalf of the club and its project to set up a high-performance charging park for electric trucks and buses in the local bus park, thereby making its own contribution to expanding the charging network for electric commercial vehicles.

‘The aim of the MAN Polarexpress was to show that a fully electric tour from the Arctic Circle to Munich is already possible today with the new MAN eTruck and the existing public charging infrastructure. Now we can say: mission accomplished! The vehicle technology is ready and there are numerous helpful solutions, such as MAN Charge&Go, to make it easier for our customers to switch from diesel to electric lorries. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to do in Europe! In order to realise the comprehensive drive transition in long-distance transport with millions of trucks, major efforts and investments are still needed to expand the necessary high-performance charging infrastructure. That's why we also very much support FC Bayern's initiative to utilise the good location and good power infrastructure of the Allianz Arena to set up a charging park for eTrucks and eBuses,’ says Friedrich Baumann, Executive Board Member for Sales & Customer Solutions at MAN Truck & Bus.

MAN eTGX: Economical Long-distance Transport
The MAN Polarexpress was also able to prove its suitability for long-distance transport in terms of cost-effectiveness. With average public charging costs of around 56 cents per kWh over the entire route, the eTGX's energy costs were roughly comparable to those of a modern diesel lorry. In identical use, this would have an average consumption of around 27 litres per 100 kilometres and a price of 1.80 euros per litre of diesel at the public filling station. However, AdBlue and toll costs would also have to be added. With cheaper public charging rates of between 40 and 50 cents per kilowatt hour already available today, the MAN eTruck would even have a cost advantage of between around 100 and 400 euros on the Polar Express route. If even cheaper depot charging is also available, for example at company-owned logistics hubs, the pendulum swings even more in favour of the electric truck.

Tour Companions Impressed by the MAN eTGX
The tour, which ran from 20 to 26 March, was accompanied by influencers André Brockschmidt (Bauforum 24) and Christina Scheib (Trucker Babes), who are well-known in the truck scene, as well as MAN Truckers World member and MAN classic car collector Rudolf Schweigert.They received expert driving guidance from MAN ProfiDrive trainers. Since the market launch of the MAN eTrucks, MAN's driver training department has been providing practical support to entrepreneurs and drivers in the transition to the new drive technology.  

André Brockschmidt accompanied the tour on the first stages from the Arctic Circle and was impressed by the truck's performance even in cold conditions, but also by the ease of charging with MAN Charge&Go. ‘The question is: what about recharging in Europe?Is that a challenge, is that a problem? And the answer is: No! You simply have the charging card and it's quick and easy. Activate the charging point, plug it in, wait a bit, then you can drive on!’

Christina Scheib accompanied the tour from Stockholm to Hamburg. She is particularly surprised by the silence of the electric drive: ‘You simply don't hear the engine. It's so quiet that you don't know whether the engine is on or not.’ Overall, however, the tour with the eTGX completely won her over: ’I'm incredibly surprised at how uncomplicated it was to drive and charge the eTruck.’

And MAN fan Rudi Schweigert, who drove the eTruck from Hamburg to Munich, would have loved to add the electric lion to his 50 MAN classic cars: ‘I had a very positive experience driving the MAN eTGX. I now have to correct my thinking here!’ 

The Tour Details
The 3400-kilometre tour comprised a total of seven stages: from the Arctic Circle along the east coast of Sweden to Stockholm, from there through the interior of the country to Malmö in southern Sweden, on to Copenhagen and through Denmark to Hamburg and from there via Schweinfurt once through Germany to the finish point at the Allianz Arena in Munich. On average, the MAN eTGX covered between 400 and 600 kilometres a day, depending on the route conditions and available charging infrastructure. It made a longer stop at the MAN site in Copenhagen to visit the service and sales team there. 

The Tour on Social Media
Five video episodes report on the experiences and encounters surrounding the all-electric MAN eTGX journey from the Arctic Circle to Munich, which were published on the MAN channels on YouTube and Instagram between 21 and 28 March to accompany the tour.At the same time, the influencers posted impressions of the tour on their own channels. A football in the colours of FC Bayern, which accompanied the journey in the MAN eTGX, provided extra excitement for the teams during the stages. As part of the truck's welcome at the Allianz Arena, the MAN Polarexpress team presented the well-travelled ball to FC Bayern legend Giovane Élber and members of the FC Bayern Munich fan club. Afterwards, Giovane Élber impressed with his unerring shots at a goal wall set up at the rear of the Polarexpress.

Click here for the videos of the arrival and the tour stages:

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The MAN eTruck: All-rounder for Every Application  The long-distance version of the MAN eTGX has a range of around 500 kilometres and is a pioneer in its class in terms of battery modularity and variety of configuration options: Up to one million different combination variants are possible, offering the right all-electric truck for every common application. As an ultra-low liner with a 950 mm low coupling height and a very short wheelbase of 3.75 metres, yet with maximum battery capacity, it is perfectly suited for use in automotive logistics, where maximum loading volume of up to three metres internal height is crucial. However, with a choice of four, five or six battery packs and power levels of 449 and 544 hp, it can also be optimally adapted for any other transport task. In addition to the standard CCS charging technology (up to 375 kW), it can also be ordered with the new MCS standard with up to one megawatt of charging power, which enables even faster intermediate charging during the driver's break from driving.

Transport companies also benefit from MAN's 360-degree eMobility Consulting when switching to electromobility: the advice on switching to electromobility includes customer-specific analyses of vehicle deployment and charging infrastructure requirements. MAN's range of services also includes the provision of charging infrastructure itself through partnerships with charging infrastructure suppliers. In addition, as with conventionally powered trucks, service contracts and financing solutions specially tailored to electric mobility as well as numerous digital services are available for the use of the new electric lions. These include the MAN eReadyCheck, which customers can use to check how their delivery routes can be driven purely electrically, as well as the MAN Charge & Go charging service including charging card, which enables simple, consolidated charging planning and billing for international routes.