At CES 2024, MAN Truck & Bus and ABB E-mobility have announced a new R&D cooperation that will help deliver a megawatt charging system (MCS) for long-distance bus services.
This agreement will see the two companies advance research and development through cross-industry cooperation. In doing so, they hope to deliver a megawatt charging system (MCS) for long-distance buses and trucks.
For electric heavy-duty vehicles to travel longer distances, batteries with greater capacities are required. To charge these batteries in a reasonable time, the charging power also needs to be increased. This requires a safe-to-use charge point connection with a greater voltage and a greater current than is widely available today.
Thomas Nickels, Senior Vice President Engineering at MAN said:At MCS, we are working with players from the entire sector to enable charging capacities in the megawatt range in the future and thus sustainable and economical long-distance heavy goods and passenger transport. By cooperating with ABB E-mobility, we can tackle the challenges of the new technology at an early stage and drive standardisation forward more quickly.
By developing a MCS solution, MAN and ABB are exploring new ways of transmitting signals at charging points, with a focus on Ethernet communication.
The companies will conduct early software and interoperability tests with vehicles and charging stations to help establish a reliable product in the emerging market environment.
The cooperation, which is initially scheduled to run for three years, will thus focus on the customer experience alongside the technical elements.
Floris van de Klashorst, Senior Vice President Products & Hardware Platforms at ABB E-mobility said:High charging performance, reliable technology and customer confidence – these are the prerequisites for the success of electromobility in heavy goods and long-distance passenger transport. 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.
