Second-gen eActros 400 production starts at Worth

Job 1 of the new eActros 400 (Photo: Meredes-Benz Trucks)

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has started production of the second-generation eActros 400 battery-electric model at its plant in Worth, Germany.

The new eActros 400 benefits from technology first seen on the eActros 600, which has been in production since the end of 2024.

Most fundamentally, the eActros 400 will now be offered with two battery packs, where the 600 will come with three packs. Each will be available as a tractor unit or a chassis cab model.

Using two packs the eActros 400 has three tons of additional payload capacity over the 600 model, putting it on par with comparable diesel trucks (more than 25 ton payload).

With a CCS2 max charging capacity of 400 kW, the two packs can be recharged from 20 to 80% in about 46 minutes.

The new eActros 400 will feature two LFP battery packs, each with 207 kWh of capacity. In heavy-duty format a ‘partially loaded’ 6x2 truck with a box body can achieve approximately 480 km of range on a full charge at 20C.

The new models will be fully assembled on a flexible line which also produces diesel-powered variants. This is different from the first-gen eActros 400, which received electric drives at the Future Truck Center at Worth.

While Mercedes-Benz Trucks notes that this will ‘enable the plant to respond quickly to market demand’, it also means that there was only investment on the line to support specific battery-electric assembly procedures.

The flex will mean the line has a better chance of remaining fully utilized, maintaining throughput and maximizing investment returns.

Daimler Truck plants at Mannheim, Kassel and Gaggenau deliver a series of components used in the electric drivetrains, including the e-axle, transmission parts and the front box, which bundles high- and low-voltage systems.