Chinese electric truck makers SuperPanther and Sinotruk have begun assembling battery-powered heavy trucks in Austria through Steyr Automotive, extending the use of European contract manufacturing by Chinese vehicle companies. SuperPanther, whose name is four years old, has used the arrangement to establish a European presence and move completed heavy trucks toward customers through an existing production site.
SuperPanther’s eTopas 600 is now being assembled at Steyr Automotive’s plant in Austria. The first completed trucks are being delivered to customers including DHL, Gress, Temmel and Lontex. Sinotruk, described in the source as China’s largest heavy truck manufacturer, began using the same approach in March.
The two truck manufacturers are following a route already used by Chinese passenger-vehicle companies. Xpeng and GAC started producing finished electric vehicles at Magna’s Austrian plant last year. That facility had previously assembled the Fisker Ocean and the Jaguar I-Pace.
Steyr Automotive is currently using a semi-knocked-down, or SKD, process for both truck brands. Pre-assembled modules are shipped to the Austrian facility, where they are put together before the finished vehicles are dispatched. Steyr Automotive said Sinotruk plans to use the site’s cab production line and paint booth as volumes increase.
The arrangement gives the manufacturers access to an operating European production base without first building a new factory. The source says this can reduce costs and allow smaller brands to expand more quickly. Steyr Automotive also works in truck retrofitting, engineering, painting and contract manufacturing.
The eTopas 600 uses a CATL-supplied 621-kilowatt-hour lithium-iron-phosphate battery. It powers two electric motors integrated into a single e-axle. The system is rated at 528 horsepower, or 394 kilowatts, in continuous operation and can reach 928 hp, or 692 kW, at peak output.
The 876-volt battery can receive more than 640 kW through two CCS2 charging ports used simultaneously. In testing cited by the source, charging power peaked at 646.7 kW and averaged 635 kW. A charge from 20% to 80% was completed in under 38 minutes.
SuperPanther lists an unladen weight of 10.8 tonnes for the European tractor cab and a gross combination weight of 42 tonnes. The company says the truck can travel around 373 miles, or 600 kilometers, in real conditions with a mixed payload without fully discharging the battery. It also reports average fleet energy use of about 1.53 kWh per mile, or 0.95 kWh per kilometer.
The source compares that figure with reported real-world consumption of between 1.55 kWh and 1.7 kWh per mile for the Tesla Semi. The comparison is presented as a company-linked efficiency claim rather than an independently verified test. The next stage described in the source is a possible expansion of local manufacturing work if Sinotruk’s production volumes rise.
