The integration between the new technologies and the driver interface makes taking a trip in the new Mercedes Benz eActros more like driving a normal electric truck.
The first generation of the Mercedes-Benz eActros looks like it’s going to be the basis for the design for the next 20 or so years, in the development of the new line of trucks the German truck maker.
The eActros was previewed in 2022 at the IAA Exhibition in Hanover, Germany, and includes several aspects of its design that we can expect to see in virtually all of the electric trucks arriving in our market over the next decade or so.
New models that we have been discussing in the last few years are much simpler electric trucks. They have been, basically, a diesel truck, which had the diesel engine and tanks removed, and the space has been filled with an electric motor, control and cooling systems, and power batteries.
Where the eActros differs from most of these is that, like the eCanter third generation, being released by Fuso around the same time (another company in the Daimler truck group), this truck includes an eAxle.
Development of the eAxle is a weight and space-saving technology that replaces the rear differentials on the drive axles with a large unit containing electric motors, a transmission, and a differential.
This innovation frees up much more space for the truck manufacturer to fit more batteries and also enables them to distribute the weight in a better way within their existing design. We can expect almost every single truck manufacturer moving into the electric space to eventually adopt something like an eAxle drive and differential, instead of using a drive shaft being driven by an electric motor in the position of the previous diesel engine.
The eAxle driven for this test has two electric motors, plus a two speed transmission and a planetary set to control and directly feed power into the drive axle. It still uses the original housing used before, but with different equipment inside. On trucks designed to run at higher masses the transmission will be a four speed.
Looking at the eActros from the outside, it is almost impossible to tell that it has electric power. However, that is not the aim of exercise. The point is to demonstrate that Mercedes-Benz does have this technology and that it is capable of handling a variety of freight transport tasks in the future.
Signage on the trucks, the blue flashes of paintwork, which Daimler chooses to put on all of their electric vehicles, and the casing in which the batteries are held give away what type of truck this is.
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