Daimler Truck completes winter testing of the eArocs 400
Since 2013, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has positioned the Arocs as a truck tailored for the construction industry—until now, powered exclusively by diesel. Mercedes-Benz Trucks unveiled the eArocs 400 for the first time last year and celebrated its premiere at the bauma trade fair in early April. Since then, the technical specifications have been revealed, confirming that the eArocs, like the long-haul truck eActros 600, uses LFP battery cells and will be offered as a concrete mixer or tipper. At the time, the Daimler Truck subsidiary also confirmed that the eArocs 400 would be produced in a small series of 150 vehicles per year for selected EU markets.
Just before this small series enters the market this April, the manufacturer has completed the final winter testing. Earlier this year, the new electric truck was put through its paces at the Finnish Arctic Circle, where temperatures plummeted to -20°C. The tests aimed to ensure operability ‘under extreme winter conditions,’ as Daimler Truck stated. Key focus areas included the traction and driving stability of the eArocs 400 on snow- and ice-covered roads, cold-start performance, battery and charging behaviour in extreme sub-zero temperatures, the performance of the electric powertrain, and recuperation efficiency in winter conditions.
Although the company, based in Leinfelden-Echterdingen near Stuttgart, stated that the extreme winter testing ‘provided Mercedes-Benz Trucks engineers with valuable insights for further refining the eArocs 400 ahead of its series production launch,’ no specific details were disclosed. The sole takeaway was that the winter tests underscored the company’s ambition ‘to offer electric commercial vehicles capable of meeting demanding year round operational requirements.’
While every new model must undergo individual testing and validation, the diesel-powered Arocs is already a derivative of the Actros family for goods transport. With the eArocs 400, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has adopted ‘essential components’ from the eActros portfolio. In addition to the batteries, these include the front box and the Power Take-Off (PTO). The new construction truck directly utilises the battery technology from the eActros 600, except that the eArocs 400 is equipped with two instead of three LFP battery packs, each with 207 kWh—totalling 414 kWh. The battery tower is located directly behind the cab. The 800-volt system can be charged at up to 400 kW via the standard CCS2 ports on both sides of the vehicle. According to the manufacturer, the two battery packs take approximately 46 minutes to charge from 10 to 80 per cent.
The eArocs 400 will initially be available with a technically permissible gross vehicle weight of 37 and 44 tonnes in the 8×4/4 axle configuration and in four different wheelbases—including as a concrete mixer or tipper, which, according to Mercedes-Benz Trucks, ‘covers essential applications for street-oriented construction transport.’ As a concrete mixer, the range is up to 200 kilometres, while the tipper variant achieves a range of up to 240 kilometres. “This allows many use cases to cover a full working day without the need for intermediate charging,” the company states.
“The winter tests in Finland subjected the eArocs 400 to demanding trials under dry, extremely cold conditions — trials it handled with confidence,” said Michael Kimmich, Head of Development for the eArocs 400. “With stable driving characteristics and a range and charging profile within the expected parameters, it clearly demonstrated its capability.”
The eArocs 400 will be available for sale from the beginning of April this year. The base vehicle will be produced at the Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant in Germany from the third quarter of 2026. The integration of the electric powertrain will subsequently be carried out by the Paul Group.
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