• Start of the first round-the-world tour with a battery-electric truck at the Mercedes-Benz Trucks booth in Hall 19/20 at IAA Transportation: departure on September 20, 2026, from 11 a.m.
• Planned route covers around 30 countries on five continents, spans around 45,000 kilometers and is intended to be completed with fewer than 80 charging stops.
• Objective of the tour: to make the performance of battery-electric long-haul transport visible worldwide, identify challenges and provide impetus for the expansion of charging infrastructure and the transformation of road freight transport.
• Image material of the departure available from Monday on “newsroom.daimlertruck.com”

Leinfelden-Echterdingen/Hanover – Tobias Wagner, also known as “Elektrotrucker”, will start his round-the-world tour with a Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 expedition vehicle on Sunday at IAA Transportation. The experienced truck driver and content creator aims to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe with a battery-electric long-haul truck within around one year. The planned route covers around 45,000 kilometers through around 30 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America and South America and is intended to be completed with a maximum of 80 charging stops. The aim of the expedition is to document the performance of battery-electric long-haul technology under a wide range of geographical, climatic and infrastructural conditions while also promoting dialogue on the expansion of charging infrastructure for road freight transport.

Christian Wilz, Chairman of the Management Board of Mercedes-Benz Trucks Germany: “When a driver sets off on a round-the-world tour in a battery-electric series-production truck, it is more than an individual adventure. It is a strong signal of how far the technology has already come. We are pleased that Tobias Wagner is relying on our eActros 600 for this journey. His trip will inspire people far beyond the transport industry about the possibilities of electric long-haul transport, while at the same time drawing attention to the progress still needed in infrastructure.”

Tobias Wagner adds: “I have been driving battery-electric trucks in international long-haul transport for several years and know what is already possible today. With this round-the-world tour, I want to find out how far we really are. I will reach places where electric mobility already works and others where it still reaches its limits. These are exactly the kinds of experiences that make the journey valuable for advancing emission-free road freight transport.”

After the official start in Hanover, the route leads from Germany via the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria to Turkey. From mid-October, the journey is then planned to continue through Central and East Asia, including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Further stages are planned in Australia, the USA and various countries in Latin America. The final route may still change as travel planning progresses.

Round-the-world tour as a practical test under real-world conditions

The expedition vehicle is based on a series-produced Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 from the Wörth am Rhein plant. For the requirements of the round-the-world tour, the series-production 4x2 platform truck was purposefully developed further into an expedition vehicle: with two spare-wheel carriers, single tires, auxiliary headlights integrated into the sun visor and a specially developed camper body from Bliss Mobil.

Internationally active logistics company DHL is providing support for vehicle transport on the necessary sea routes, particularly between continents.

Nikola Hagleitner, Member of the Board of Management Post & Parcel Germany of DHL Group: “At DHL, we are actively shaping the sustainable transformation of road freight transport and are already successfully using alternative drives in daily operations. With our global logistics expertise, we are supporting the round-the-world tour, from the intercontinental shipment of the vehicle to fast parcel shipping of spare parts along the route. This makes visible worldwide what is already possible in freight transport today.”

Tobias has also equipped the truck with his own DC charging station from Alpitronic so that, in addition to the existing CCS charging technology with a charging capacity of 400 kW, it can also be charged from AC sockets with up to 43 kW in special cases.

Focus on electric mobility, charging infrastructure and service network

The expedition is intended to document the technical maturity, efficiency and reliability of battery-electric long-haul transport solutions under demanding operating conditions. At the same time, it focuses on the framework conditions required for the broad use of electric commercial vehicles. These include, in particular, the further expansion of publicly accessible charging infrastructure for heavy-duty road freight transport. The international dealer and service network offers Tobias Wagner the opportunity to access comprehensive service and support along his route if required.

Authentic insights for customers, drivers and the public

Tobias Wagner’s round-the-world tour is intended to convey the opportunities offered by battery-electric drive technologies in road freight transport based on real-world experience. Through regular reports from the road, encounters with customers, drivers and industry representatives, and the documentation of different operating scenarios, it will create a practical picture of battery-electric long-haul transport on a global scale.

About Tobias Wagner

Tobias Wagner is a truck driver, content creator and ambassador for battery-electric logistics. The 33-year-old startup entrepreneur from Mühldorf am Inn, who has spent the past few years working on the development of car charging infrastructure, has fully dedicated himself to electric logistics since 2024. Since then, he has been on the road in numerous European countries as a full-time professional driver for the Lower Saxony-based haulage company Nanno Janssen and shares his experiences on YouTube. With the first circumnavigation of the globe in an electric truck, he now wants to demonstrate to the commercial vehicle industry that the true limits of the technology – if they exist at all – lie far beyond Europe. Through this lighthouse project, Tobias Wagner wants to inspire logistics providers and truck drivers across Europe and encourage them to embrace a sustainable, quiet and economical world of transport.

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 2024, and the vehicle is now in daily use on the road in numerous countries in and outside Europe. The electric flagship among Mercedes-Benz Trucks has already proven its capabilities several times under real-life conditions: in customer operation, as part of the “eActros 600 European Testing Tour 2024”, an all-electric development trip of 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 gross combination weight of 40 tonnes. The electric truck was also named “International Truck of the Year 2025”. The award is the industry’s most important prize and is presented annually by the International Truck of the Year (IToY) organization, which consists of 24 commercial vehicle journalists from Europe. One of the decisive factors for the award was the overall technological concept comprising the electric drive axle and LFP cell technology.

The high battery capacity of more than 600 kilowatt hours – hence the model 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 gross combination weight of 40 tonnes and can also be significantly exceeded depending on driving style and route. In the most consumption-efficient combination, the eActros 600 with three battery packs can achieve a range of up to 560 kilometers^[2] in classic long-haul operation and with a gross combination weight of 40 tonnes. The eActros 600 will even be able to cover well over 1,000 kilometers in one day. Intermediate charging during legally prescribed driver breaks makes this possible, provided charging options are available.

The eActros 600 has three battery packs, each with 207 kWh^[3]. These provide an installed total capacity of 621 kWh. The batteries are based on lithium iron phosphate cell technology (LFP) and are characterized by a long service life. In contrast to other battery cell technologies, more than 95 percent of the installed capacity can also be used with LFP technology. This enables a higher range with the same amount of installed battery capacity. The vehicle is technically designed for a gross combination weight of up to 44 tonnes. With a standard semitrailer, the eActros 600 has a payload of around 22 tonnes in the EU. In some cases, national law may permit a higher payload.

Further information about the "Around the World in 80 Charges" journey can be found here: Around the world with the eActros 600 in 80 loads.

^[1] The range was determined internally under specific test conditions with a 4x2 tractor unit with a gross combination weight of 40 tonnes at an outside temperature of 20°C in long-haul operation and may differ from the values determined in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400.
^[2] The estimated range is derived from the results of internal simulations and real driving tests. The actual range may differ from the estimated range due to numerous factors such as topography, weather conditions, speed, preconditioning, auxiliary consumers, the individual vehicle configuration and driving style. 
^[3] Nominal capacity of a new battery, based on internally defined framework conditions. This may vary depending on application and ambient conditions.