EVwire brief: German truck driver and content creator Tobias Wagner, better known as “Elektrotrucker,” has started a roughly 45,000-kilometer (28,000-mile) journey around the world in a battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 600. The trip is planned to take about a year, cross around 30 countries on five continents, and be completed with fewer than 80 charging stops.
Wagner left IAA Transportation in Hannover on September 20 with his specially prepared eActros 600, nicknamed “Zazu.” The route begins in Germany before passing through the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey. From mid-October, Wagner plans to continue through Central and East Asia, including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, before continuing to Australia, the United States and Latin America.
Tobias and his partner, Zazu.
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Zazu is based on a series-production eActros 600 4x2 built at Mercedes-Benz's Wörth plant, but has been modified for the expedition. It has two spare-wheel carriers, single tires, additional headlights integrated into the sun visor and a specially developed camper body.
Wagner has also brought charging equipment with him. Zazu supports normal 400 kW CCS charging, but carries an Alpitronic DC charging station that allows it to charge from AC outlets at up to 43 kW when conventional charging infrastructure is unavailable. DHL is supporting the expedition by transporting the truck across necessary sea routes between continents and shipping spare parts along the journey.
Zazu in Vienna, Austria, during Day 6 of the expedition.
Wagner says he wants the trip to challenge remaining skepticism around electric heavy-duty vehicles while documenting what different countries can teach Europe about charging infrastructure.
Wagner announced the expedition on LinkedIn:
Wagner is posting the route and regular updates on YouTube and Polarsteps. Here’s one of his latest videos as of writing.
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Context:
Wagner is 33 and has spent the past several years working around charging infrastructure before moving fully into electric logistics in 2024. He now works as a professional driver for the German haulage company Nanno Janssen while documenting his experiences with electric trucks on YouTube.
The Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 carries three 207 kWh battery packs for 621 kWh of installed capacity, using lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells. Mercedes-Benz quotes 500 km (311 miles) of range under specified 40-tonne long-haul conditions, with up to 560 km (348 miles) in its most consumption-efficient configuration. The vehicle is technically designed for a gross combination weight of up to 44 tonnes, so it would be interesting to see how far Zazu can go without hauling any extra weight.
The infrastructure challenge is arguably the most interesting part of the trip. Wagner is deliberately taking a production electric truck into regions where heavy-duty charging networks are at very different stages of development. The expedition will therefore provide a running record of how far an electric truck can travel today, while also showing exactly where charging infrastructure still needs to catch up.
Source: Tobias Wagner and Alpitronic on LinkedIn, Daimler Truck press release
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