Mercedes-Benz Trucks has developed a tow truck with a charging speed of 1,000 kilowatts. This has become possible through a new charging standard called the Megawatt Charging System (MCS), and the company says in a press release that they will now implement this standard in future products.
– Customers who place high demands on range and vehicle availability will benefit from megawatt charging of 1,000 kilowatts in the future, says Rainer Müller-Finkeldei, head of product development at Mercedes-Benz Trucks.
The term “megawatt charging” is used for speeds above 700 kilowatts, and the plan is for the eActros 600 tractor unit to have such capacity available to customers shortly. The test was carried out with a prototype.
For comparison, the passenger cars with the highest charging speeds have just over 300 kilowatts.
Launching this year
The MCS standard is to be developed and tested further so that all communication between vehicle and charger is quality assured.
The launch of the eActros 600 is planned for the end of 2024. The vehicle will have CCS charging with a capacity of up to 400 kilowatts. At the same time, customers can order a pre-installation of the MCS technology, so that the wagon is prepared for megawatt charging 1000 kilowatts, when it becomes available.
The battery in the eActros 600 is 600 kWt, which should give a range of 50 miles with a load.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks says this means the car will be able to cover 100 miles a day, if the driver uses the rest time to charge, even without megawatt charging.
Continuous expansion
The company estimates that around 60 percent of Mercedes-Benz Trucks customers’ journeys in Europe are shorter than 50 miles, which means that a charging infrastructure at the loading and unloading points is sufficient in such cases.
For longer trips, they believe that it is very important to continuously expand public charging infrastructure, so that the electric truck is viable for long-distance transport across Europe.
For long-distance transport, Mercedes-Benz Trucks believes that megawatt charging has great potential.
