Mercedes-Benz Trucks has unveiled the eActros 600, it's first long-haul electric truck that's designed for series production.

The truck is equipped with three battery packs providing a total capacity of 621kWh - around ten times the amount of a typical electric family car.

Mercedes says the eActros 600 will be able to travel "significantly" more than 600 miles per day. This is made possible by intermediate charging during legally prescribed driver breaks.

In addition to CCS charging, at up to 400kW, the eActros 600 will later also enable megawatt charging (MCS). From the start of sales, customers can order a pre-installation for this. As soon as MCS technology becomes available and is standardised across manufacturers, it is planned to be retrofittable for these models of the eActros 600. MCS will enable the batteries to be charged from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes.

The vehicle is technically designed for a gross combination weight of up to 44 tonnes. With a standard semi-trailer, the eActros 600 has a payload of around 22 tonnes in the EU. In some cases, national law may permit a higher payload.

Karin Rådström, CEO at Mercedes-Benz Trucks, said: “The eActros 600 stands for the transformation of road freight transport towards CO2-neutrality like no other truck with a three-pointed star. It is characterised by highly innovative drive technology that can offer our customers particularly high energy efficiency and thus profitability. This makes entry into e-mobility even more attractive for fleet operators.”

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has developed a new 800-volt electric axle with two electric motors and a four-speed transmission specifically for use in heavy-duty long-haul transport. The electric motors generate a continuous output of 536hp as well as a peak output of 805hp.

An electric-mechanical power take-off makes it possible, for example, to operate hydraulic or mechanical work equipment such as tipping, sliding floor or silo semi-trailers. There is also an electric DC or AC power take-off, enabling refrigerated bodies or refrigerated semi-trailers to be operated. Depending on on the version, the various power take-off applications cover a power range of 22kW to 90kW.

The eActros will be priced at two-and-a-half times more than a comparable diesel truck. Mercedes-Benz Trucks says it is possible the vehicle could be more profitable than a diesel long-haul truck within the average vehicle holding period of around five years, or after around 370,000 miles.The time taken to achieve cost parity will differ from country to country, based on the incentives and electricity prices.

With the current European energy mix, the eActros 600 achieves CO2 savings of around 40% compared to a comparable diesel Actros and, with fully renewable energies, of more than 80% over the entire product life cycle of 10 years from raw material extraction. This corresponds to savings of around 370 or 775 tonnes of CO2.