MAN officially starts production of truck and bus battery packs in Nuremberg (and announces further investment)

MAN Truck & Bus has officially launched its battery production at the Nuremberg production site today, April 11, in the presence of Bavarian Minister President Dr Markus Söder and State Minister Hubert Aiwanger. 50,000 battery packs can be produced per year in Nuremberg. However, the new M50 building is designed to be able to produce 100,000 units per year. The project was announced in 2022. In 2023 MAN received a 24 million grant to the purpose. Works in the plant were completed in late 2024.

During the event, MAN announced that further 150 million euros will be invested in the coming years in order to widen the scope of the facility and allow the production of modules for the next battery generation (as of today just packs, consisting of several modules, are assembled in Nuremberg). Out of these 150 million, around 18 million euros will be subsidised by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) and the Free State of Bavaria.

Such investments follows the 100 million already invested in the production facility that has now been launched.

In addition, MAN highlights that the State of Bavaria is funding the further development of and research into battery technology at the MAN site in Nuremberg with around 30 million euros. These funds will be used for research in areas such as battery assembly, cell chemistry and ageing as well as battery safety.

MAN currently assumes that almost half of the trucks in Europe and around 90 per cent of city buses will be delivered with zero-emission drive systems by 2030.

MAN Nuremberg battery production site launched

Overall, the investments in Nuremberg will secure around 400 jobs in a technology of the future and further advance the transformation of the site, as “The employees working in battery production were previously employed in the areas of engine assembly, foundry or logistics and were able to open up a new, future-proof field of work for themselves thanks to retraining”, as MAN says.

The start of battery production is already the second new production line to be opened in Nuremberg this year. MAN has also started the production of the latest generation diesel engines, which are used in the new D30 PowerLion driveline, investing around 250 million euros in this project.

MAN explains that at its factory in Nuremberg, battery packs are manufactured in three so-called form factors. A flat form factor is used in the MAN Lion’s City E, the battery-electric city bus. Two other form factors are used in the MAN eTGL, MAN eTGS and MAN eTGX eTrucks with total weights of 12 to 50 tonnes. The start of series production of the MAN eTrucks eTGS and eTGX in Munich is planned for June this year.  

MAN uses NMC cell chemistry (‘nickel-manganese-cobalt’) in its batteries, which has been specially adapted to the operation of commercial vehicles.

Modular production is a technological highlight in the large-scale production of battery packs that is now starting. This means that, the OEM own words, “MAN works with a system without a conveyor belt and cycle that can handle different product variants and can be easily adapted to new variants. The decoupled stations can be operated and converted independently of each other, and the battery packs flow through the production system depending on individual requirements and condition. This is made possible by a high degree of digitalisation and automation in the production flow and material provision, which is fully automated with intelligently networked automated guided vehicles (AGVs). This ensures the necessary flexibility and versatility as well as the economical production of different battery packs”.

Each battery is subjected to 23 test programmes and around 400 test parameters are recorded. This is documented individually for each battery. This means that the production process can still be traced even after 15 years. 

“Today is a historic day for MAN. With the start of battery production, the company that invented the diesel engine is entering a new era. We are very proud of what we have created here in Nuremberg and what will continue to be created. Today we announced another milestone in the transformation towards climate-friendly drives: MAN will invest a further 150 million euros in the expansion of battery production for future battery generations in Nuremberg. We have also recently stepped up our efforts in the further development of state-of-the-art diesel technology. This brings the total investment in Nuremberg to half a billion euros. This is a clear commitment to Bavaria and Germany as a centre of innovation” says MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp.  

Minister President Markus Söder emphasized that “Electromobility made in Bavaria: this is a milestone for MAN and Bavaria as an industrial location! With a state-of-the-art site policy and great cooperation between management, works council, employees and politicians, MAN has successfully transformed itself from a former site for pure diesel engines into a state-of-the-art battery production site for electric trucks. This strengthens the location, secures and creates jobs and international competitiveness. Bavaria is and will remain an automotive state – also in the commercial vehicle sector. Following initial funding of 30 million euros in 2022 for research and development, the Free State is supporting the future production of battery modules with almost six million euros.”