MAN unveils e-bus chassis for world markets in Sydney. NMC and LFP battery available, in production from 2024

MAN Truck & Bus launched the new Lion’s Chassis E LF for global markets at the Australasia Bus & Coach Expo in Sydney. The chassis, announced in June 2022, is based on technologies from the MAN Lion’s City E, which is already operating successfully in many European countries and proving its everyday suitability, performance and reliability day after day.

The MAN team is working with a worldwide network of bodybuilders. This is to ensure that local customer requirements in Asia, Africa, South America, New Zealand and Australia can be met in the best possible way. It is planned that the first assembled demo vehicles will be delivered as early as 2023. In addition, the performance and functionality of the chassis will be tested in possible target markets in the coming year, including Australia.

The start of series production of the Lion’s Chassis E is planned for 2024. The electric chassis will be produced at the Polish MAN plant in Starachowice. “The Lion’s City E will also be manufactured there. The experience that our employees have gained in development and production around our eBus and its series production will of course be incorporated into the production of the electric chassis. Our international customers will benefit significantly from this,” says Rudi Kuchta, Head of Business Unit Bus at MAN Truck & Bus.

MAN electric bus chassis unveiled in Australia

MAN will initially offer the all-electric chassis as a two-axle vehicle for low-floor (Lion’s Chassis E LF), low-entry (Lion’s Chassis E LE) and high-floor (Lion’s Chassis E HF) applications. To ensure that it can be used everywhere, it will also be available as a left- and right-hand drive version. This is particularly interesting for countries such as Singapore, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, where left-hand drive is the norm and MAN buses are already in use.

“We are very pleased that the MAN Lion’s Chassis E has been presented live here in Australia for the first time,” says Crinel Geaboc, Head of MAN Bus and Coach at Penske Australia, exclusive MAN partner in Australia and New Zealand. Geaboc continues: “MAN offers one of the most technologically advanced diesel buses on the Australian market. The new electric chassis perfectly complements the existing range.”

The manufacturer believes that every second MAN city bus sold is to have an emission-free drive by 2025. “The new Lion’s Chassis E is an essential building block for us to achieve this goal. Because with our electric chassis we now offer the MAN electric bus solution for the international markets, and bodybuilders from all over the world receive the ideal basis for their fully electric models with the chassis,” says Kuchta, and adds: “In this way we can also provide our customers with emission-free solutions outside Europe.”

NMC and LFP batteries available

“With the Lion’s Chassis E, we are in a position to make it much easier for companies and operators to switch their fleets to electric technologies, which is already required in this country,” says Crinel Geaboc. This also succeeds because MAN offers two alternatives in terms of battery technology. In this way, the sometimes enormously different requirements of international bus companies in terms of daily range, total kilometre performance and costs are to be met. In concrete terms, this means that in addition to the NMC technology (lithium nickel manganese cobalt battery) familiar from the Lion’s City E, there will be LFP technology (lithium ferrophosphate battery).