An all-electric, pre-production version of the next generation Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van covered impressively 475km on a single charge in the final testing phase, with a few miles to spare.
The large battery-powered truck will make its world debut in February 2023 and is confirmed to arrive in Australia “in or around 2024”.
The test route starts from the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart to Munich Airport and back, with an efficiency of 21.9 kWh per 100 km – confirmed by a TÜV Süd inspector.
“This is despite the fact that the route is extremely demanding in terms of fuel consumption due to the numerous motorways and the Swabian Jura climb,” adds Mercedes-Benz Vans.
That said, the new Mercedes-Benz eSprinter will be launched in three different battery sizes and of course this pre-production car is the largest of the three variants – but also a slightly longer model. more dynamics with a high roof.
The mileage here and the savings results suggest a battery pack with a capacity of around 110kWh in top-spec guise.
The lowest part of the 475 km route is mainly a highway with an elevation of 210 meters above sea level and the highest part of 785 meters above sea level. Upon arrival, the instrument cluster displays the remaining distance of about 20 km, which means 500 km can be traveled.
To give a little more context to this, when the current generation eSprinter launched in December 2019, it claimed peak efficiency of 32.5 kWh per 100 km and a range of 168 km.
Former Mercedes-Benz trucks teases the next generation electric full-size truck is undergoing winter testing in Sweden at temperatures as low as -30°C, in early 2022.
When eSprinter launches in 2024, it will join the mid-size eVito dashboard van, eVito Tourer and EQV passenger van will be rolling out to showrooms this year.
There are plenty of electric trucks on the radar for the Australian market, though the only ones currently on sale are (about to be replaced) Renault Kangoo ZE and LDV eDeliver 9 has just been released rivals the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter in size and has a maximum range of 280 km.
The Ford E-Transit (early 2023) and Renault’s Master Electronic Technology (2024) is also on its way.
Mercedes-Benz previously claimed to have worked with stakeholders such as courier and parcel services to determine what is needed from the next-generation truck.
It has invested around 350 million euros (~$540 million) in the next-generation truck, which will be offered in more markets than ever including the US and North America.
A sum of €50 million (~AU$77 million) is claimed to have been spent adapting the three aforementioned plants to accommodate eSprinter. The company says the manufacturing process will be CO2 neutral.
Mercedes-Benz has now revealed or released electric versions of its entire line of vans, including the Citan and T-Class brethren not sold here.
From 2025, all new Mercedes-Benz architectures will be electric as the brand plans to go all-electric by the end of the decade “wherever market conditions permit”.
That means there’s a new, truck-specific EV architecture for the company. Called VAN.EA, it will be launched “from the mid-2020s”.
