This summer, two near-series production prototypes participated in an almost seven-week test run to demonstrate the operational performance of the eActros 600, traveling more than 15,000 kilometers through 22 European countries. It was the most extensive test run in the history of Mercedes-Benz Trucks. Each of the two e-trucks traveled with a 40-ton gross combination mass and used public charging stations exclusively to charge. The vehicles successfully demonstrated the high energy efficiency of the eActros 600 throughout the tour: Over the entire duration of the trip, the prototype equipped with special equipment to measure consumption was able to achieve an average driving consumption of 103 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers.^[1] Calculating the energy content of Diesel, this would translate into a consumption of around 10 liters per 100 kilometers, which would have been impossible to achieve with a conventionally powered truck. On numerous daily stages of the tour, it would have even been theoretically possible to achieve ranges of more than 600 kilometers without intermediate charging. On average, it was possible to cover with recuperated energy around 25 percent of the eActros 600’s drive power consumed.

Depending in particular on the route, topography and temperature, daily consumption ranged between 85 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers - during the downhill trek from Madrid to Bilbao (approx. 360 kilometers) under very good road and weather conditions - and 140 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers from Alta to the North Cape (approx. 240 kilometers) with a lowest temperature of 7 degrees Celsius some of which consisted of unpaved roads. Along the journey, some 30 journalists from 20 European countries, most of the time behind the wheel, put the operational performance of the other prototype to the test – not only with regard to consumption but also, for example, in terms of handling dynamics. Even with this vehicle, the consumption was only around 6 percent higher on average. This means that the stated range of 500 kilometers with one battery charge proved to be a realistic planning factor over the course of the trip. 

The tour officially started out from Frankfurt am Main on June 11. After traveling north through Germany, Denmark and Sweden, the two trucks reached the first major stage highlight, right on time for Midsummer: The North Cape in Norway, the most northerly point in Europe that can be reached by road. From the end of June, the convoy’s onward route turned south through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, France and Spain. After a stop in Tarifa, Spain, the southernmost place in Continental Europe, which also marked the next major tour highlight, the trip once again took a northerly direction – back to Germany via Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.