Wörth am Rhein – Carsten Schneider, Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and Alexander Schweitzer, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate, visited the Mercedes-Benz truck plant in Wörth, a Daimler Truck location, today. The visit focused on a tour of the production facilities, discussions on the future of emission-free transport and the necessary charging infrastructure, and a visit to the development and testing center at the Wörth site.

Together with Achim Puchert, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Carsten Schneider and Alexander Schweitzer visited the A-series production facility at the site, where the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 for long-distance transport is also manufactured in series. During the tour, the two ministers gained insights into production at close quarters: In addition to an exchange with qualified experts from the e-truck assembly line, Federal Minister Carsten Schneider and Minister-President Alexander Schweitzer were allowed to lend a hand with the installation of the battery in the eActros 600, thus taking on one of the last tasks in the vehicle's production. A test drive with the eActros 600 finally led to the development and testing center at the Wörth site, where the first public liquid hydrogen filling station for fuel cell trucks is located.

Achim Puchert, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks: "The visit by Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider and Minister-President Alexander Schweitzer to the Wörth plant underscores the importance of the transformation of the commercial vehicle industry. Our Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth shows how this transformation can succeed in Germany: With our flexible production strategy, we have positioned ourselves optimally for the challenges of change in our industry and can adapt our production to customer demand at any time. On one assembly line, we flexibly manufacture different drive types in parallel – both battery-electric vehicles such as our eActros 600 and combustion engine trucks. In addition to innovative production processes and vehicles, the success of electric mobility also requires clear political support – for example, in the expansion of the charging infrastructure and targeted incentives for our customers."

During his visit, Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said: "Just a few years ago, hardly anyone would have thought it possible that large trucks could travel such long distances on electric power. Today, we can see that it works and is also suitable for everyday use, with charging times and break times for drivers fitting in well. Now it's up to the political framework to ensure that the investment also pays off for freight forwarders. In many cases, this is already the case, especially when the batteries can be charged in the depot with solar power from the roof. Or when the trucks drive long distances that the climate discounts on tolls offset the additional costs of purchase."

Minister-President Alexander Schweitzer emphasized the importance of Daimler Truck as the second-largest employer in Rhineland-Palatinate: "With its plant in Wörth, Daimler Truck is not only a significant economic factor, but also a key player in the industrial transformation of mobility. Especially in times of change, it is a central concern of the state government to be able to offer the best conditions for a strong industrial and economic location in Rhineland-Palatinate through targeted promotion and support."

About the eActros 600

Mercedes-Benz Trucks celebrated the start of series production of the eActros 600 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth at the end of November last year. It has been delivered to customers since December 2024. The electric flagship among Mercedes-Benz Trucks has already proven its capabilities several times under real-world conditions: in customer use, as part of the “eActros 600 European Testing Tour 2024,” a fully electric development drive covering more than 15,000 kilometers through a total of 22 countries, and the “European Testing Tour Winter 2025” covering around 6,500 kilometers through Northern Europe – each with a total trailer weight of 40 tons. Furthermore, the electric truck was named “International Truck of the Year 2025.” The award is the most important prize in the industry and is presented annually by the International Truck of the Year (IToY) organization, consisting of 24 commercial vehicle journalists from Europe. Among other things, the overall technological concept of an electric drive axle and LFP cell technology was decisive for the award.

The high battery capacity of over 600 kilowatt hours – hence the type designation 600 – and a new, particularly efficient electric drive axle developed in-house enable the eActros 600 to achieve a range of 500 kilometers^[1] without intermediate charging. This range is achieved under very realistic, practical conditions with a total towing weight of 40 tons and can be significantly exceeded depending on driving style and route. The eActros 600 will even be able to cover well over 1,000 kilometers per day. This is made possible by recharging during the legally prescribed driver breaks, provided that charging facilities are available.

The eActros 600 has three battery packs, each with a capacity of 207 kWh^[2]. These offer a total installed capacity of 621 kWh. The batteries are based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell technology and are characterized by a long service life. In contrast to other battery cell technologies, over 95 percent of the installed capacity can be utilized with LFP technology. This enables a longer range with the same amount of installed battery capacity. The vehicle is technically designed for a combined gross combination weight of up to 44 tons. With a standard trailer, the eActros 600 has a payload of around 22 tons in the EU. In some cases, national law may allow a higher payload.

Hydrogen as a supplement to battery-electric solutions

Daimler Truck is investing heavily in the electrification of its vehicle portfolio and sees hydrogen as an important supplement to battery-electric solutions. The company now has 11 battery-electric vehicles in series production in its global product portfolio. Hydrogen-powered trucks are set to follow in the near future.

Five transport companies are currently testing a prototype of the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck as part of initial customer trials. In addition, the next generation of fuel cell trucks is already in development. As part of small-series production, a total of 100 semi-trucks are to be built at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth and put into practical operation by various customers from the end of 2026.

The vehicles will be powered by fuel cells from cellcentric, a joint venture between Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group. In addition, cellcentric plans to build and commission one of the largest fuel cell production facilities in Europe in Weilheim an der Teck, Baden-Württemberg, in the coming years.

However, the expansion of hydrogen filling stations is progressing much more slowly than expected. As a result, customers will not be able to deploy hydrogen trucks in large numbers in the next few years. Therefore, the large-scale industrialization of fuel cells and the planned series production of hydrogen-powered trucks with a focus on Europe is planned for the early 2030s. The development of hydrogen drives is focused on Europe.

About the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth

The largest truck assembly plant of Mercedes-Benz Trucks in Wörth am Rhein was founded in 1963. Around 4.4 million trucks have been built here since the beginning. Today, these are the Actros, Arocs, and Atego series. The Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks Econic, Unimog, and Zetros are also built in Wörth. In 2021, series production of the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 300/400 for distribution transport began. This was followed in 2022 by the second electric series truck, the Mercedes-Benz eEconic, for municipal use. At the end of 2024, Daimler Truck celebrated the start of series production of the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 for long-distance transport in Wörth.

_{[1] The range was determined internally under specific test conditions, after preconditioning with a 4x2 tractor unit with a gross combination weight of 40 tons at an outside temperature of 20°C in long-distance transport and may differ from the values determined in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400.}

_{[2] Nominal capacity of a new battery, based on internally defined conditions. This may vary depending on the application and environmental conditions.}