MAN showed off the megawatt charging capabilities of its eTruck electric semi this week in the brutal, blistering cold weather conditions at the Kempower MCS Live Winter Days 2026 event in Norrköping, Sweden.
MAN began series production of its eTruck electric semi last summer on a flexible assembly line capable of building up to 100 trucks per day with either diesel or battery-electric power. With production underway, the challenge now is selling the things. That means proving that the higher upfront cost of the eTruck will eventually pay off with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and the next stop on that train is down time – and proving out the trucks’ megawatt charging standard (MCS) capability, even in freezing cold, is an important step in that process.
“The MAN eTruck has proven the stability of the MCS charging process during (the Kempower Live Winter Days) in Sweden,” explains Sven Steckhan, Program Lead Charging at MAN Truck. “Including controlled charging performance and secure communication between vehicle and charger. All our tests confirm the robustness of hardware and software integration and underline the maturity of MCS technology for future series production.”
The Kempower Mega Satellite system, first introduced in 2024 and on hand for the demonstration, supports currents of up to 1,500 AMS and delivers a power output of up to 1.2 megawatts through a liquid-cooled plug. The MAN Trucks successfully charged at 750 kW despite the cold, which is the trucks’ (current) maximum charge rate.
The fully electric truck models MAN eTGX and MAN eTGS can be ordered now with the MCS option. Production of this equipment variant will begin in the second quarter of 2026.
Electrek’s Take
Yes, betting against Tesla has been bad business for well over a decade now, and their truck allegedly charges at the full 1.2 MW – significantly faster than the MAN unit. But with MAN now capable of putting out about as many electric semi trucks in a single day as Tesla has in the last ::checks notes:: eight years since the official launch of the Tesla Semi concept, it’s hard to imagine the embattled electric car AI and robotics brand catching up — and harder still to see them catching up with Volvo or Renault, each of who have logged tens of millions of electric semi miles in recent years.
That said, Tesla has beaten legacy brands with massive, seemingly insurmountable leads before – but the good news is that, when it comes to EVs, whoever wins, we kind of all win, you know? Even Elon! That’s my take, anyway. Head down to the comments and let me know yours.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kempower, MAN.
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