MAN is to launch e-bus and e-truck battery production in Nuremberg (volume production starting in 2025)

MAN Truck & Bus is establishing large-scale production of batteries for electric trucks and buses at Nuremberg site, until now known as a historical place for combustion engine manufacturing. The group will invest around 100 million euros (securing 350 jobs in Nuremberg).

Planned battery manufacturing capacity? Over 100,000 battery systems per year. MAN highlights that Bavarian State Government has promised a contribution of around 30 million euros to energy research and technology funding for the period 2023 to 2027, provided that the funding and budgetary requirements are met.

Around the middle of the current decade, the total cost of ownership for an e-truck and a diesel-powered one will be at the same level, according to MAN. The group recently announced that “will in future be offering an electric bus chassis for the global market“, based on technologies from the Lion’s City E, for which a total of over 1,000 orders have been received to date (the vehicle will be in roadshow outside the old continent beginning with 2023). The e-bus is produced at MAN’s Polish plant in Starachowice.

MAN to produce batteries in Nuremberg

From the beginning of 2025, MAN Truck & Bus will manufacture high-voltage batteries for electric trucks and buses in large-scale production at its Nuremberg site. To this end, the company will invest around 100 million euros over the next five years at the tradition-rich production site for combustion engines.

Production capacities will be expanded to over 100,000 batteries per year. The investments in the development of battery production will secure 350 jobs. This important investment decision was made in close cooperation between the company and the employee representatives and with the active support of Bavarian politicians, MAN points out in a press note.

Initially, the batteries will be manufactured manually at the MAN plant in Nuremberg in a small series production for about two and a half years. Construction of large-scale production is scheduled to start in mid-2023 and to be completed by the end of 2024. MAN is thus laying the foundations for the large-scale industrialization of electric drive systems for trucks and buses, the group says.

30 million expected from Bavarian State for MAN battery production

The commercial vehicle manufacturer is receiving support from the Bavarian State Government, which has promised a contribution of around 30 million euros to energy research and technology funding for the period 2023 to 2027, provided that the funding and budgetary requirements are met. These funds will be used to conduct research in battery assembly, cell chemistry and development, battery safety, and ultimately battery recycling to ensure the sustainability of the propulsion mode.

Alexander Vlaskamp, Chairman of the Executive Board of MAN Truck & Bus SE, says: “We are now starting to industrialize electromobility and continue on our path to climate-neutral mobility in commercial vehicles. It is a groundbreaking location and investment decision for the next decades. At the same time, it is part of MAN’s transformation into a provider of sustainable transport solutions. This now paves the way for a commercial vehicle e-cluster “made in Bavaria”, consisting of the production of e-trucks at MAN in Munich, battery production in Nuremberg, research & development at both locations and excellent cooperation with the respective colleges, universities and institutes. With our investment decision, we are securing around 350 jobs at the Nuremberg site and hundreds if not thousands of jobs in Germany. Such important decisions can only be made in close cooperation with all parties involved from the employer and employee sides as well as politics.”

Markus Wansch, Chairman of the Nuremberg Works Council and Vice Chairman of the General and Group Works Council, adds: “Our industry is undergoing a profound transformation. Our workforce is rightly asking: What are the perspectives? That is why it is such good news that together we have succeeded in establishing battery series production in Nuremberg. This goes to show that the future of Nuremberg as a location will also rest on the pillar of electromobility.”