One compact unit replaces a bigger battery, adding range to an electric truck on demand
(Image courtesy of MAHLE)
MAHLE has launched its first specific development projects with commercial vehicle manufacturers for its electric truck range extender, covering prototypes and on-road test vehicles ahead of the system’s public debut at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hanover. The company is unveiling a second technology there too, a rare earth-free traction motor for heavy trucks. Both target the charging infrastructure and range limits still holding back battery-electric truck adoption.
First prototype projects for the MAHLE range extender
Arnd Franz, chairman of the MAHLE management board and chief executive, said the positive customer response shows the market needs economical, practicable solutions for electrification. The projects, aimed at producing prototypes and road-test vehicles in the near term, target existing battery-electric truck platforms. The range extender itself is a compact unit built around a generator and a combustion engine, with its own fuel tank, AdBlue tank and exhaust treatment on board, all housed in one enclosure with the system’s thermal and fluid management.
Range extender cuts weight while extending range past 800km
The core component is a high-voltage generator rated at 110 kW continuous output and up to 130 kW peak. A newly developed oil-cooling system gives it a power density above 7 kW per kilogram, and integrated thermal management, with 48 kW of high-temperature and 15 kW of low-temperature cooling capacity, is designed to keep the unit stable under heavy-duty operating conditions.
The range extender replaces around a third of a truck’s existing battery capacity, MAHLE says, a trade-off that cuts rear axle load by about 400 kilograms and total vehicle weight by around 600 kilograms while extending combined range beyond 800 kilometres in the company’s own configuration, split roughly 400 kilometres from the battery and 400 kilometres from the range extender. Real-world CO2 savings run above 80 percent against a conventional drivetrain, falling close to zero on HVO100 renewable fuel, though the company has not detailed the accounting method behind either figure.
No permanent magnets, no rare earth elements, and still enough torque for a heavy truck axle
(Image courtesy of MAHLE)
MCT motor removes rare earth dependency from truck axles
At the same event, MAHLE is showing a second world premiere, an electric motor for heavy commercial vehicle drive axles called MCT, short for MAHLE Contactless Transmitter. The motor has no permanent magnets and therefore needs no rare earth elements, saving up to 3 kilograms of rare earth magnets per vehicle against a conventional permanent magnet synchronous motor. It delivers a peak output of 370 kW and torque above 900 Nm. The company says the resulting drive system is up to 10 kilograms lighter than comparable solutions and reaches 95 percent efficiency on the VECTO cycle, the simulation tool used within the EU’s framework for determining heavy-vehicle CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.
MAHLE calls for regulatory flexibility ahead of scheduled EU review
Franz used the launch to renew MAHLE’s call for technological diversity in political regulation, arguing that battery-electric drivetrains, hydrogen and renewable fuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-LNG should be allowed to develop alongside each other. MAHLE wants a review of the EU’s CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles, which currently require a 45 percent fleet-average reduction by 2030 rising to 90 percent by 2040. The Council of the EU says it adopted a targeted amendment in March 2026 giving manufacturers temporary flexibility on how emission credits are calculated for 2025 to 2029, without altering those headline targets.The European Commission’s HDV CO2 standards guidance still described the change as proposed rather than adopted at the time of writing, a status gap against the Council’s own account of the March 2026 vote. The regulation’s substantive rules are due for a further review in 2027.
MAHLE describes itself as a partner to 120 commercial vehicle customers, with components it says are used in almost all battery-electric and fuel cell trucks sold in Europe and in virtually all of the continent’s hydrogen engine projects currently under way. Franz said the company intends to grow its commercial vehicle business faster than the wider market over the next five years. The range extender and MCT motor will be on show at MAHLE’s stand in Hall 11 during the public days of IAA Transportation, which runs from September 15 to 20.
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