Wagner, better known online as “Elektrotrucker”, departed from the IAA Transportation exhibition in Hanover on 20 September. By 28 September, he had already covered almost 1,000 kilometres, according to Austrian transport publication ÖVZ.
Tobias Wagner speaking beside the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 at the launch of his global expedition
The journey is expected to take around a year and pass through approximately 30 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America and South America. Mercedes-Benz Trucks describes it as the first attempted circumnavigation of the world in a battery-electric long-haul truck.
From European motorways to Central Asia
Map showing the planned route of the eActros 600 round-the-world expedition through Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas
The first leg takes Wagner from Germany through the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria before reaching Turkey. From mid-October, the planned route becomes considerably more challenging, continuing through Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China before heading through Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 expedition vehicle with camper body parked beside woodland
Australia, the United States and several Latin American countries are also planned, although Mercedes-Benz Trucks says the precise route could change as the expedition progresses.
Charging is likely to be one of the most closely watched aspects of the trip. The target of fewer than 80 charging stops across approximately 45,000 kilometres works out at more than 560 kilometres of travel per planned charge on average, although the truck will also be transported by sea between continents.
Tobias Wagner driving the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 during his round-the-world electric truck expedition
The expedition vehicle therefore carries its own Alpitronic DC charging station. Alongside conventional CCS charging at up to 400 kW, this allows Wagner to charge from AC connections at up to 43 kW where suitable high-power public infrastructure is unavailable.
A production-based truck turned into an expedition vehicle
The vehicle is based on a series-production 4×2 eActros 600 built at Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ Wörth plant. It has been converted for the expedition with two spare-wheel carriers, single tyres, additional lighting and a specially developed camper body from Bliss Mobil.
DHL is supporting the project by arranging the truck’s transport on the sea legs between continents and providing logistics support for spare parts if required.
The eActros 600 uses three 207 kWh battery packs, giving it 621 kWh of installed capacity. Mercedes-Benz Trucks quotes a range of around 500 kilometres at a gross combination weight of 40 tonnes under its specified test conditions, rising to as much as 560 kilometres in its most energy-efficient configuration.
Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 expedition truck driving on a motorway during its round-the-world journey
Wagner is not new to electric long-haul operations. He has worked as a professional driver for German haulier Nanno Janssen and says he has already covered around 200,000 kilometres electrically in national and international long-haul transport.
The expedition is intended not only to demonstrate the truck’s capabilities but also to expose the practical limitations of electric long-haul transport as it encounters very different climates, terrain and charging networks.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks says the project will document where battery-electric long-haul transport already works and where infrastructure remains an obstacle. Wagner, meanwhile, has framed the journey as a real-world test of just how far the technology can be pushed beyond Europe’s established transport corridors.
