Leinfelden-Echterdingen/Wals-Siezenheim (Austria) – This year’s eNordkapp Challenge — an approximately 8,000-kilometer expedition from Germany to Arctic Norway — saw a Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 participate as the first battery-electric semi-trailer truck ever to take part. The eNordkapp Challenge is a long-distance tour for purely electric vehicles, held annually since 2018 at the end of December. The destination is Norway’s famous North Cape — the northernmost point in Europe reachable by car. Over ten days, the expedition impressively demonstrated the robustness and performance of the Mercedes-Benz Trucks battery-electric long-haul model under demanding conditions, including temperatures as low as minus 41 degrees Celsius.

The eActros 600 was provided by Austrian logistics company VEGA International CarTransport & LogisticTrading GmbH. Herbert and Silvia Salentinig successfully completed the challenging route, which this year ran from northern Germany and Denmark through central Sweden along the Inlandsvägen highway to the North Cape. For the journey, the team selected an eActros 600 with a vehicle transport semi-trailer carrying a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter — a combination with a total gross vehicle weight of 32.5 metric tons that is regularly deployed in VEGA’s daily operations.

The eActros 600 embarked on this extraordinary tour almost entirely unchanged, with the sole modification being special tires fitted for extreme weather conditions. During the Challenge, the electric truck proved its reliability. Even charging stops under difficult circumstances did not halt the VEGA team — whether it meant unhitching for charging, dealing with charging cables that were too short, or managing frozen card readers at charging stations.

“The eActros 600 is a true workhorse for us — reliable even under the harshest conditions,” said driver Herbert Salentinig upon arrival at the North Cape.

About the eActros 600

Mercedes-Benz Trucks celebrated the series launch of the eActros 600 at the end of November 2024 the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth. Deliveries to customers began in December 2024.

The electric flagship from Mercedes-Benz Trucks has already proven its capabilities several times under real-life conditions  — including far above the Arctic Circle. During the more than 15,000‑kilometer “eActros 600 European Testing Tour 2024” across 22 countries, the eActros 600 reached Europe’s northernmost point for the first time. It also completed the roughly 6,500‑kilometer “European Testing Tour Winter 2025” through Northern Europe — each time operating at a gross combination weight of 40 tons. In addition, the e-truck was voted “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.

The high battery capacity of over 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 accomplished under very realistic and practical conditions with a gross combination mass of 40 tons, which can also be significantly exceeded depending on the driving style and the route. The eActros 600 will even be able to cover well over 1,000 kilometers per day. Intermediate charging during statutory driver breaks makes this possible, provided that charging options are available.

The eActros 600 has three battery packs, each with 207 kWh^[2]. These offer 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. The development engineers at Mercedes-Benz Trucks designed the eActros 600 to meet the same requirements for the durability of vehicles and components as a comparable conventional heavy-duty long-haul Actros. This means up to 1.2 million kilometers in ten years of operation. After this period of use, the battery state of health should still be above 80 percent. In contrast to other battery cell technologies, more than 95 percent of the installed capacity can also be used with LFP technology. This facilitates a higher range with the same installed battery capacity. The vehicle is technically designed for a gross combination mass of up to 44 tons. With a standard semitrailer, the eActros 600 has a payload of around 22 tons in the EU. There might be cases in which national law allows higher payloads.

In order to meet even more customer requirements, Mercedes-Benz Trucks recently expanded its battery-electric truck portfolio with additional variants based on the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600. Depending on their requirements in terms of range, payload, and comfort, customers will be able to choose between two cab variants, two or three battery packs, numerous wheelbases, and new axle configurations. The second model generation of the eActros thus offers over 40 variants of the base vehicle. The new vehicle versions feature the key characteristics of the eActros 600, such as LFP battery technology and the specially developed eAxle.

_{[1] The range was determined internally under specific test conditions, after preconditioning with a 4x2 tractor unit with a 40 tons total towing weight at 20°C outside temperature in long-haul operation and may deviate from the values determined in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400.
[2] Nominal capacity of a new battery, based on internally defined boundary conditions. This may vary depending on the application and ambient conditions.}