Germany – This month at a topping-out ceremony, Daimler Truck AG of Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Baden-Württemberg broke ground on its new InnoLab battery laboratory in Mannheim, which it expects to complete by August this year, marking another step towards development of its own battery technology. The facility will produce batteries in-house for its range of electrically powered buses and trucks with the aim of reducing its reliance on external battery suppliers and limiting the impact of component supply shortages. Daimler aims to produce the first battery cells by the end of 2023 and the first prototype battery system by 2024. On this project, Daimler has collaborated with German engineering firm, Manz AG*, which is to provide the in-house battery chemistry expertise.

Daimler is in the process of renovating a 7,500 square-metre space, Hall 18, at its Mannheim factory, which, up until 2020, produced cylinder crankcases and flywheels. In the future, more than 60 new systems will be set up at the InnoLab facility to gather more data on all relevant processes involved in the production of battery cells and systems including coating technologies, welding processes, assembly and bonding processes.