Expertise For The Future For Emission-Free Mobility

未来のための専門知識、排出ガスゼロのモビリティのために 画像出典：ダイムラーAG

Expertise For The Future For Emission-Free Mobility

排出ゼロモビリティのためのコンピテンスセンター（KEM）はマンハイムで25周年を祝います – バッテリーパックの量産に向けた準備が加速しています。.

• マンハイムにおける低排出ガス車および排出ガスゼロ車の25年間にわたる試作品、小規模生産、シリーズ立ち上げ
• eActrosおよびeCitaro用バッテリーパックのシリーズ生産は、経験豊富なチームの恩恵を受けています
• Dr. Frank Reintjes, Head of Global Powertrain, E-Mobility and Production Planning at Daimler Truck AG: “At Daimler Trucks & Buses, we are pursuing a sustainable business strategy with the aim of CO₂-neutral road transportation. This can only be realized using electric commercial vehicles with a battery or fuel cell drive. We’re constantly developing both of these technologies to series production: we will launch battery-powered trucks onto the market from 2021 onwards, followed by hydrogen drives by the end of the 2020s.”
• Andreas Moch, Head of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim: “It’s very important for us to rapidly implement innovations in the production of new drive technologies and to introduce them into series production. And that’s exactly KEM’s area of expertise and competence. Especially in the current transformation of the automotive industry, this is of utmost importance.”
• Georg Klohr, Head of the Competence Center for Emission-Free Mobility: “In the past twenty-five years, we’ve gained a considerable amount of experience with a variety of technologies. With this knowledge, we are very well positioned for the future. Already today, each Daimler vehicle with an alternative drive system also contains a piece of KEM’s expertise. And that’s something we’re very proud of!”

Anniversary in Mannheim: for twenty-five years, the Competence Center for Emission-Free Mobility (KEM) has been the pilot factory for Daimler AG’s vehicles with alternative drive systems. As a development partner within the company, KEM builds prototypes, produces small series and prepares series start-ups. This closes the gap between vehicle development and large-scale production. Mainly, KEM focuses on introducing and integrating electric and other alternative drive systems into series production. At the same time, designing production lines with cutting-edge technologies is one of KEM’s core competencies. More than 50 engineers, master craftsmen and mechatronics specialists combine their extensive know-how to define new manufacturing processes for components of low-emission and emission-free vehicles such as battery packs or entire battery systems.

Dr. Frank Reintjes, Head of Global Powertrain, E-Mobility and Production Planning at Daimler Truck AG: “At Daimler Trucks & Buses, we are pursuing a sustainable business strategy with the aim of a CO₂-neutral form of road transportation. This can only be realized using electric commercial vehicles with a battery or fuel cell drive. We’re constantly developing both of these technologies to series production: We will launch battery-powered trucks onto the market from 2021 onwards, followed by hydrogen drives by the end of the 2020s. But these vehicles will only prevail on the market if they are economically viable for our customers and if the necessary charging infrastructure is available. Here, we especially need our political representatives to put suitable framework conditions in place.”

Series production of battery packs and systems “Made in Mannheim”

The Competence Center for Emission-Free Mobility has already been involved in the series start-up of the fully electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro city bus, which has been manufactured in Mannheim since the end of 2018. Since then, battery modules have been pre-assembled into battery systems for the eCitaro at KEM. These are mounted to the roof and also installed into the engine compartment during the city bus’s assembly. Due to this expertise, series production of battery packs for the eActros scheduled from 2021 onwards will also take place at KEM.

ダイムラーは今後もコンピテンスセンターに依存し続けるでしょう

As part of the future package passed in agreement with the works council in February 2019, an investment volume in the double-digit millions in the Mercedes-Benz site in Mannheim has been announced. KEM, which plays a key role in Daimler Truck AG’s sustainable corporate strategy, also benefits from this. For apart from its twenty-five years of experience, KEM’s new production hall with state-of-the-art equipment is a considerable advantage. In operation since 2016, the 15,000 square meter building houses the necessary equipment for vehicle-specific high-voltage applications as well as facilities for the production of hydrogen tank systems including high-pressure leak testing systems.

“It’s very important for us to rapidly implement innovations in the production of new drive technologies and to introduce them into series production. And that’s exactly KEM’s area of expertise and competence. Especially in the current transformation of the automotive industry, this is of utmost importance,” says Andreas Moch, Head of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim.

確かな未来を拓くサクセスストーリー - eモビリティ・コンピテンスセンター 画像提供：ダイムラーAG

確かな未来を拓く成功事例 – 排出ゼロモビリティコンピテンスセンター

コンピテンスセンターは、排出ガスゼロの商用車を対象に1994年に設立され、当初は新しい駆動システムのための実験工房としてのみ活動していました。その初期のプロジェクトの一つが、1996年のT1型車両（スプリンターの前身）の電気駆動化の組み立てでした。過去数十年にわたり、その開発および生産の重点は、最新の出来事やトレンドに基づいて、多様かつ広範囲にわたってきました。例えば、2000年代初頭には天然ガス駆動が主な焦点でしたが、近年では電気駆動システムとバッテリー技術へとますます移行しています。最近では、KEMはメルセデス・ベンツのウェルトとシュトゥットガルトの拠点のチームワークにより、顧客テスト用のeActrosトラックの組み立てを完了しました。KEMは、この新技術とその対応する生産プロセスに関する従業員のトレーニングと資格取得などを担当しました。.

As Georg Klohr, Head of the Competence Center for Emission-Free Mobility, points out regarding the increasing relevance of alternative drives in recent years: “In the past twenty-five years, we’ve gained a considerable amount of experience with a variety of technologies. With this knowledge, we are very well positioned for the future. Already today, each Daimler vehicle with an alternative drive system also contains a piece of KEM’s expertise. And that’s something we’re very proud of!”

マンハイム – 伝統に彩られたダイムラートラックAGの生産拠点

Mercedes-Benz and Mannheim are linked by a very special history. On January 29, 1886, this is where engineer Carl Benz invented the world’s first automobile with the patent number 37435 – the Benz Patent Motor Car. What is now the Mercedes-Benz Mannheim plant was founded in Luzenberg, Mannheim-Waldhof in 1908. Today, the Mannheim site employs more than 8,600 people in the production of engines and corresponding components for commercial vehicles as well as in the production of buses. The plant’s foundry is one of the world’s leading producers of cast-iron vehicle components. Engines are also prepared for commercial vehicles and passenger cars at the “European Center for Reconditioned Engine Production”.

In addition, the plant is the home of the large family of Mercedes-Benz Citaro city buses. From shell construction to final assembly, the Citaro is produced entirely in Mannheim. The Citaro’s flexible production methods cover the entire drivetrain portfolio – from a low-emission combustion engine to variants with hybrid and natural gas drives right up to the fully electric eCitaro. In addition, the Competence Center for Emission-Free Mobility has been accompanying the drivetrains of the future for all vehicle segments from prototype to series production for 25 years. Training and securing new talent are equally important in Mannheim: young people have been training here for more than 100 years; a total of nearly 11,000 since vocational training was first launched.