MAN Truck & Bus and ABB E-mobility have entered into an exclusive cooperation agreement to address the challenges of electrifying Europe’s trucking fleet. Their collaboration aims to advance the development of megawatt charging stations, explore new electric vehicle integrations, and develop new software solutions for electric trucks.
“Cooperation in the area of research and development is rather rare in our industry,” offers Thomas Nickels, Senior Vice President Engineering at MAN. “Together with ABB E-mobility, we are striving for a trusting, binding and transparent partnership. We are already starting with the development of products and standards and are focussing on the special requirements of the commercial vehicle industry.”
The “special requirements” for the commercial trucking space include:
High-performance charging
Reliable charging technology
Consumer confidence (in the EV infrastructure)
“(These) are the prerequisites for the success of electromobility in heavy goods and long-distance passenger transport,” says Floris van de Klashorst, Senior Vice President Products & 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.”
ABB’s team indicated that, while a megawatt charging system (MCS) is important to the overall success of electric semi trucks, its importance is not exclusive to that industry. The press release cited motorhomes, RV, and travel coaches (buses) as additional beneficiaries of widespread MCS availability.
ABB E-mobility has sold more than one million EV chargers across more than 85 markets, including over 50,000 DC fast chargers.
MAN Truck & Bus stands as one of Europe’s major commercial vehicle manufacturers, boasting an annual sales value exceeding 11 billion euros. Their extensive product portfolio encompasses vans, trucks, buses, along with diesel and gas engines, complemented by logistics services for both passenger and freight transport. Notably, MAN has been in the electric vehicle market, selling electric versions of its TGX and TGS trucks since October 2023.
Electrek’s Take
MAN and ABB E-mobility sign cooperation agreement on technical collaboration; via MAN.
MAN and ABB E-mobility sign cooperation agreement on technical collaboration; via MAN.
MAN and ABB E-mobility sign cooperation agreement on technical collaboration; via MAN.
MAN eTGS; via MAN.
MAN eTGS; via MAN.
MAN eTGS; via MAN.
MAN eTGX; via MAN.
MAN eTGX; via MAN.
MAN eTGX; via MAN.
There’s no denying the critical importance of a faster and more reliable charging infrastructure for the logistics industry to fully embrace all-electric trucks in their mainstream fleets. However, the ABB and MAN cooperation doesn’t feel like the most obvious frontrunner in the race to solving these pressing issues.
I’ll be paying closer attention to BYD, Tesla, and the Cummins/Paccar/Daimler joint venture to develop a common heavy equipment battery platform, and expect the big winner in this space to be one of them.
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Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.
He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.
When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.
EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.
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The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.
The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.
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Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.
The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.
Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.
For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.
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Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:
Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.
The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.
They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
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Vietnamese solar panel maker Boviet Solar just opened the doors to its first US factory — a huge new PV module plant in Greenville, North Carolina.
The company dropped $294 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which will pump out Boviet’s Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial solar panels. They’re using advanced PERC and N-Type solar cell tech, which basically means these panels are built to deliver higher efficiency and better performance across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects.
The Greenville factory’s first phase is now online with an annual PV module output capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). For Phase 2, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, Boviet will invest another $100 million to add 600,000 square feet and ramp up to another 2 GW. It will make high-efficiency solar cells.
Once both phases are complete, Boviet’s campus will cover more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and R&D space. It’s one of the biggest clean energy manufacturing projects North Carolina has ever seen.
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The jobs impact is significant, too. The first phase will create 460 skilled local jobs. Phase 2 is expected to add another 908, bringing the total to over 1,300 direct jobs, plus nearly 2,000 more indirect jobs across the region. That’s good news for Pitt County’s economy, real estate market, and workforce training programs.
“This facility is not just creating jobs, but creating opportunity, innovation, and a stronger foundation for eastern North Carolina,” said Senator Kandie Smith. Governor Josh Stein added that Boviet Solar’s move shows how North Carolina is leading the way in clean energy growth.
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