MAN, a member of the Volkswagen Group, is now selling a battery-electric van, the MAN eTGE. Providing a range of up to 160 kilometers and a payload of 950 to 1,700 kg, the electric MAN eTGE is suited for urban tasks, depending on the type approval (3.5 or 4.25 tonnes).

For around ten years, MAN Truck & Bus has been working on innovative concepts for supplying and removing material in the urban environment. Cities increasingly find themselves faced with the challenge of reconciling a healthy climate and their inhabitants’ quality-of-life demands with the transport of goods and deliveries in central urban areas.

This problem involves developing ideas for reducing traffic at specific times and relocating it out of the city altogether, new approaches to the use of land, plus new transport and drive concepts.

In view of this situation, MAN Truck & Bus has put forward a variety of ideas and studies from the truck and bus sectors in recent years. Advancing these ideas consistently, the sales of MAN’s first fully electric-powered production vehicle are now underway with the eTGE.

Around 70% of light commercial vehicles used in urban areas travel fewer than 100 kilometers per day on average. The average speed reached during this is low. With this in mind, the vehicle’s theoretical range of up to 160 kilometers covers about three-quarters of all urban-core transport.

A 40 kW charging station fills a battery up to 80% in 45 minutes. The MAN eTGE can be restored to full operational capacity after just under five and a half hours on an alternating current wallbox. Approximately nine hours are needed for a full charge with 220V AC.

With the relevant battery maintenance, the 36 kWh rechargeable battery only loses around 15% of its ca-pacity after ten years and around 2,000 charging cycles. Individual modules of six or twelve cells can be replaced separately. The modules are located under the slightly higher load floor, as used for rear-wheel drive body versions with diesel engines.

The electric front-wheel drive TGE uses a permanently excited synchronous motor with 100 kW maximum available power. It has 290 N·m of torque at its immediate disposal. Combined with the maximum speed of 90 km/h, this re-sults in fuel consumption of around 20 kWh per 100 kilometers.

The eTGE comes with a comprehensive range of built-in standard equipment, including a navigation system, heated windscreen and other features that help to make driving easier and safer. As with all TGEs, the emergency brake assist (EBA) continues to be installed as standard.

In the initial phase of the roll-out, the MAN eTGE can be ordered with the standard wheelbase and high roof. The product line is primarily aimed at fleet customers with a tailored service concept to tend to their needs. Initial customer enquiries and signed sales contracts have already been made for the MAN eTGE, which costs around €69,500 (US$85,855).

The first electric-powered vans from MAN are to be used first in metropolitan areas of Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Norway and the Netherlands.