Volkswagen joins MAN Truck & Bus to promote etruck use in transport

The forum was entitled ‘Together for sustainable logistics, together for zero emissions’, and the two companies invited international logistics companies, charging park operators, charging station manufacturers and customers with experience in operating etrucks to look at where they can work together on implementing sustainable freight transport. VW Group Logistics and MAN Truck & Bus also outlined the progress they had made in proving that etrucks are reliable and practical. 

“In land transport, in particular, the CO₂ emissions of diesel trucks are particularly high in relation to transport performance,” said Simon Motter, head of VW Group Logistics. “That is why we see battery-electric vehicles as the most suitable technology for a more climate-friendly commercial vehicle fleet. Cooperation both within the [VW] Group and with our partners is crucial: our common goal is to protect the climate and conserve resources."

goTOzero initiative

Motter pointed to VW Group Logistics’ goTOzero cross-brand sustainability initiative, which aims to reduce emissions and reach carbon neutrality in its logistics in line with the company’s net zero targets. 

As reported in December last year, Volkswagen is benefitting from cleaner inbound logistics at its plants in Germany following the announcement that transport provider Duvenbeck plans to put up to 120 etrucks supplied by MAN Truck & Bus into service for the carmaker in the Rhine-Ruhr and Benelux regions by 2026. The first etruck went into service in December 2024 bringing parts to VW’s Wolfsburg plant.

In an interview with Automotive Logistics in 2024, Motter talked in more detail about VW Group’s sustainable freight transport strategy, and the importance of intermodal transport and interoperability across logistics modes. That includes etrucks, with Duvenbeck one of the first among several logistics partners to implement them to serve VW Group Logistics across its material logistics routes.

Practical applications

According to MAN Truck & Bus, since early 2025 the etrucks it has sold to logistics service providers (LSPs) have covered over 5m km and that underlines their practical suitability for a variety of transport tasks. The truck maker pointed to its modular battery system, which allows customers to choose between range and payload, adding that MAN etrucks can be used in more than 80% of all truck applications from construction site and swap body transport to automotive logistics. 

In terms of automotive logistics, MAN Truck & Bus is the only manufacturer of lowliner etrucks, with the eTGX and eTGS models introduced to the market in 2023. Lowliner trucks, which have a low fifth-wheel elevation, have a loading height of three metres. That enables three load carrying containers to be stacked on top of each other maximising the cube density of the available capacity and making freight transport more efficient. 

“The first customers have already driven well over 100,000 km with a MAN eTGX in just over a year,” said Friedrich Baumann, MAN executive board member for sales and customer solutions. “This shows that the battery trucks are reliable and practical.” 

Haulage firm Nanno Janssen has 35 battery-electric trucks in its fleet and more etrucks on the way, including 15 MAN eTGX models. At the forum, managing director, Nanno Janssen, said: “Long-distance transport with electric lorries is already possible today in Europe. Now it's a matter of scaling up the technology.”

Baumann added that the company currently has around 1,000 orders for its etrucks. 

However, while Germany has extended its toll exemption for zero-emission trucks until 2031, Baumann pointed out that small and medium-sized enterprises need to be given more support in the form of financing programmes. “The expansion of the charging infrastructure also needs further impetus in the form of faster approval procedures and the expansion of the electricity grids,” he said. 

In last year’s interview with Automotive Logistics, Motter pointed out that regulations on road freight and the tolls charged for combustion driven trucks will drive investment in greener transport. He said that etrucks and sustainable fuels will be more competitive in five years’ time and VW was working to be implement them.

“That is why we have to work on these solutions now so that we can be prepared to achieve a sustainable and economic solution in the future,” he said.