MAN carries out the first ultra-fast charging demonstration of one of its trucks at more than 700 kW

ABB E-mobility, the prestigious company specialising in charging station equipment, and MAN, the renowned German truck and bus manufacturer, have recently joined forces to carry out the first public demonstration of the entire charging process of an electric truck using the MCS Megawatt Charging System.

As could be seen during the event, MAN’s truck was connected to a charging point still under development by ABB E-mobility capable of delivering a peak power above 700 kW and a thousand amperes. The demonstration took place at MAN’s Development Centre in Munich.

According to the German manufacturer, the recharging process of its electric truck from 10 to 80 percent takes around half an hour. This means it will be possible to add between 300 and 400 km of range during the driver’s break in the middle of the working day.

MAN and ABB E-mobility signed a cooperation agreement at the beginning of this year, which has now resulted in this demonstration. Both companies are working together on developing the MCS charging system for electric trucks. As MAN itself explains, the ABB charging point used in this demonstration is still a prototype under development. The only one that currently exists in Germany.

Nothing can fail

The cooperation between the two companies aims to address all the problems that arise during the development of the MCS system, identifying them and applying any necessary corrections. Perfect interoperability between electric trucks, from any manufacturer, and MCS charging points is absolutely essential from the first day that both begin to reach the market, and this is what explains initiatives such as this one.

In this regard, Floris van de Klashorst, Senior Vice President of Products and Hardware at ABB E-mobility, promised last January that by 2025 they will already have an MCS charging point for electric trucks that meets the requirements and demands of the logistics sector.

The MCS system is designed to support up to 1,250 volts and 3 thousand amperes, which theoretically should allow recharging at a peak power of 3.75 megawatts. To put this into perspective, the CCS standard that most electric vehicles currently use in markets such as Europe supports a maximum charging power of 400 kW at 500 amperes.