CES 2024: MAN and ABB E-mobility announce R&D cooperation

Thomas Nickels, Senior Vice President Engineering at MAN, sees the cooperation as a specialty in the market: "Cooperation in the area of research and development is rather rare in our industry. 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 focusing on the special requirements of the commercial vehicle industry."

The importance of cross-industry cooperation for the entire sector is particularly evident for megawatt charging system (MCS), Nickels continued: "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 standardization forward more quickly."

These challenges include the ISO15118-20 communication standard and new ways of transmitting signals. The basis for MCS is Ethernet communication, which is being used for the first time in electromobility. Early software and interoperability tests with vehicles and charging stations should help to establish reliable products as quickly as possible in an emerging market environment. This is why the cooperation, which is initially scheduled to run for three years, is focusing on the customer experience right from the start, in addition to the internal development and further development of charging stations, vehicles and software.

"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," says Floris van de Klashorst, Senior Vice President Products & Hardware Platforms at ABB E-mobility.

"The market needs an ecosystem that interlocks and works reliably. That's why we want to jointly develop a concept for the interaction of MCS and CCS that addresses issues such as space, energy supply and grid expansion. MAN's extensive expertise helps us to develop customer-oriented solutions – both for use in the depot and on the track," says van de Klashorst, giving an outlook on future projects.

The cooperation is not just limited to logistics: "MCS will also be used in future in the travel sector, for example for motorhomes and coaches. This will bring additional challenges and a change in user behavior," continues the Head of Development.

MAN Truck & Bus is one of Europe's leading commercial vehicle manufacturers and providers of transport solutions with an annual turnover of around 11 billion euros (2022). The product portfolio includes vans, trucks, buses, diesel and gas engines as well as services for passenger and freight transport. The electric drive is already an integral part of the standard range of MAN buses and MAN vans, and a comprehensive portfolio of series-produced electric trucks has been on sale since October 2023. Together with digitalisation and automation in road freight transport, the transition to CO2-free driving is a key pillar of the NewMAN strategy for the future, with which the company is transforming itself from a commercial vehicle manufacturer into a provider of intelligent and sustainable transport solutions by 2030. MAN Truck & Bus is a TRATON GROUP company and employs around 33,000 people worldwide. www.man.eu

ABB E-mobility is enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient mobility future as a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions. ABB E-mobility is a partner of choice for the world's biggest EV OEMs and nationwide EV charging network operators. It offers the widest portfolio of EV charging solutions from smart chargers for the home to high-power chargers for the highway stations of the future, solutions for the electrification of fleets and charging for electric buses and trucks. With ~1,500 employees around the world, ABB E-mobility has sold more than one million EV chargers across more than 85 markets, including over 50,000 DC fast chargers. e-mobility.abb.com

SOURCE ABB E-mobility