MAN will deliver the first electric coach to FC Bayern as a team bus
A new project for a charging park dedicated to electric trucks and buses was recently unveiled at the Allianz Arena in Munich, the iconic home of FC Bayern Munich and one of the most advanced football stadiums in the world.
What is interesting, MAN announced it will deliver the first all-electric coach to FC Bayern as a team bus in the 2025/26 season. The German OEM had already announced that its Lion’s Coach E will be in demo test starting in 2025. The charging park will include at least 30 charging stations, designed to service up to 500 electric buses and trucks daily. High-power and megawatt charging points are to be built in three planned expansion stages on the southern bus car park of the Allianz Arena.
MAN electric truck and coach charging park in Munich
MAN Transport Solutions, MAN’s in-house consultancy for the switch to zero-emission vehicles, was deeply involved in the project. The consultants are supporting the planning and implementation of the public megawatt charging park.
MAN outlines that “Large football stadiums such as the Allianz Arena have a very powerful electricity grid due to their high electricity requirements for floodlights, catering operations and other consumers, which is only fully utilised on match days. FC Bayern Munich and its long-standing sponsoring partner MAN Truck & Bus found the ideal conditions for setting up a commercial vehicle charging park and agreed on a corresponding project. Especially as the 100 per cent use of green electricity in the Allianz Arena makes the project even more climate-friendly”.
The official launch of the charging park project for electric lorries and buses took place on 27th August at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Dr Markus Söder, Bavarian Minister President, Christian Bernreiter, Bavarian State Minister for Housing, Construction and Transport, Jan-Christian Dreesen, CEO of FC Bayern München AG, Michael Diederich, Deputy CEO of FC Bayern München AG, Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus, and Frederik Zohm, Chief Development Officer of MAN Truck & Bus, were all present.
Jan-Christian Dreesen, CEO of FC Bayern, explains the joint project with MAN: “Our society is facing major challenges, especially when it comes to protecting our environment and the climate. For us, the public charging park for commercial vehicles is a continuation of our sustainability efforts to manage the Allianz Arena in an increasingly climate-friendly way”.
Michael Diederich, Deputy CEO of FC Bayern, adds: “This project is of great importance to us, and I can think of no better partner than MAN to successfully realise it. Two strong companies from Bavaria are driving into the future in innovative ways and making an important contribution to electrification and climate neutrality in coach and truck transport”.