MAN Truck & Bus has announced an additional €150 million investment in its battery production facility in Nuremberg, bringing total spending on battery manufacturing at the site to around €250 million. Combined with earlier investment in diesel engine production, the commercial vehicle manufacturer is allocating nearly €500 million to the site.
The company officially launched battery production at the Nuremberg facility this week, with Bavarian Minister President Dr Markus Söder and State Minister Hubert Aiwanger attending the opening. According to MAN, the additional funds will be used to increase production capacity and expand in-house manufacturing capabilities. This includes the production of battery modules, which will supplement the existing assembly of battery packs.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the Free State of Bavaria are jointly subsidising approximately €18 million of the new investment. Bavaria is also providing an additional €30 million to support research into battery technology, including cell chemistry, safety and ageing.
MAN states that around 400 jobs will be secured at the Nuremberg site as a result of the battery production expansion. Many employees have been retrained, transitioning from roles in engine assembly, logistics, or the foundry.
Commenting on the development, MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp said:
“Today we announced another milestone in the transformation towards climate-friendly drives: MAN will invest a further 150 million euros in the expansion of battery production for future battery generations in Nuremberg.”
The battery production line is the second to open in Nuremberg this year, following the start of manufacturing for the latest generation of MAN diesel engines. The company has allocated approximately €250 million to that project. MAN anticipates that while zero-emission vehicles will dominate future sales—estimating that 90% of city buses and nearly half of trucks in Europe will be electric by 2030—highly efficient combustion engines will still be needed into the next decade.
Battery packs are currently manufactured in three form factors at the Nuremberg plant. These are designed for use in the MAN Lion’s City E electric bus as well as the eTGL, eTGS and eTGX electric truck models, which cover gross weights from 12 to 50 tonnes. Series production of the MAN eTGS and eTGX is scheduled to begin in Munich this June.
The Nuremberg facility currently has capacity for 50,000 battery packs per year, with infrastructure in place to double this to 100,000 depending on demand. MAN uses NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) cell chemistry and applies a battery management system designed to monitor cell condition, regulate temperature and disconnect the battery in case of an accident.
Production at the site is based on modular assembly, allowing for flexible handling of different battery variants. The manufacturing process is highly automated, with networked guided vehicles managing material flow. Each battery undergoes an individual inspection process covering 23 test programmes and 400 parameters, with records maintained for up to 15 years.
