MAN Truck & Bus has successfully completed the first winter tests for its fully electric coach, the Lion’s Coach E, demonstrating exceptional performance under extreme cold, snow, ice, and challenging terrain. The trials continue MAN’s long-standing tradition of subjecting its vehicles to the harshest conditions to ensure reliability, efficiency, and economy for customers.
Image: MAN Truck and Bus
Barbaros Oktay, Head of Bus at MAN Truck & Bus, explained: “There are high expectations for our new fully electric coach, which celebrated its world premiere at Busworld Europe last fall – and we want to fully meet these expectations thanks to such intensive testing.”
Rigorous Testing Across Extreme Climates
The Lion’s Coach E was tested in northern Sweden near the Arctic Circle and in Erzurum, Turkey, regions known for severe winters. A total of four electric coaches covered thousands of kilometres in snowy and icy conditions, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Engineers focused on key areas including the high-voltage battery system, energy management with preconditioning and charging performance, the electric powertrain, and thermal management of the passenger cabin. Cold weather is particularly challenging for electric coaches, as they must maintain consistent driving range while delivering efficient and reliable heating for passengers. Oktay noted: “Even in these freezing temperatures, the Lion’s Coach E fully met our expectations. All components and systems functioned reliably despite the cold.”
Image: MAN Truck and Bus
Integrated Vehicle Performance
Winter testing did not focus solely on individual components. The interaction of all vehicle systems under extreme conditions was closely monitored, with hundreds of sensors recording temperatures, pressure levels, energy flows, and system statuses. These insights allowed engineers to validate and optimise the vehicle’s design, making the Lion’s Coach E ready for year-round, international operation, whether in southern Europe or the Arctic north.
In total, nine vehicles participated in the 2026 winter tests, including the four Lion’s Coach E models alongside conventional diesel coaches and other electric or hybrid city and intercity buses. MAN has been conducting winter trials in northern Sweden for more than 30 years. Roland Scharl, Head of Engineering Bus at MAN Truck & Bus, said: “The combination of double-digit sub-zero temperatures, snow, and ice provides the ideal conditions for putting vehicles through their paces. The successful debut of the Lion’s Coach E shows that electric mobility in passenger transport is reliable and economically feasible even under extreme conditions.”
Image: MAN Truck and Bus
First Fully Electric Coach from MAN
The Lion’s Coach 14 E is MAN’s first battery-electric coach, reflecting the company’s ongoing transformation toward sustainable mobility. The coach uses proven drive technology from the mass-produced eTruck, paired with innovative NMC battery packs manufactured in Nuremberg. The battery has a usable energy capacity of 320 to 480 kWh, allowing ranges of up to 650 kilometres under optimal conditions – enough for many typical travel routes without recharging.
The eCoach’s aerodynamic design reduces drag, while still offering space for up to 63 passengers with no compromise on luggage capacity compared to diesel models. Following its world premiere in 2025, the Lion’s Coach E is undergoing extensive testing and preparation for series production in Ankara. The first customer vehicles are expected to be delivered before the end of 2026.
The successful winter trials confirm that MAN’s electric coach can meet the demands of long-distance passenger transport, even in the harshest climates, offering a sustainable and reliable alternative to diesel coaches.
