Sustainability

Bayern to open commercial charging hub at Allianz Arena

Featured image credit: Bayern Munich

German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich will set up a charging station for electric vehicles at the Allianz Arena as part of an expanded agreement with MAN Truck & Bus.

The ‘HPC charging hub’ for eTrucks and eBuses will be located near the front of the stadium, which is located on the busy München-Nord junction. A total of 30 charging points will be built over three construction phases.

Up to 10,000 lorries pass through München-Nord every day, making it one of the busiest motorway junctions in Germany. The Allianz Arena charging station will allow up to 500 electric buses and trucks to be charged on non-match days.

MAN has been a partner of Bayern since 2008 and has agreed a new deal running until 2027. As part of the extension, it has been agreed that Bayern’s first team will travel to the Allianz Arena on an electric bus from 2026 onwards.

Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen said: “Our society faces big challenges, particularly in the protection of our environment and the climate. For us, the public charging hub for commercial vehicles is a continuation of our sustainability efforts to manage the Allianz Arena in an increasingly climate-friendly way.

“It is the next drive in a constantly evolving environmental programme that has been producing improvements for many years. Everyone wins with this project: FC Bayern, MAN, society and, most importantly, the environment.”

Markus Söder, Minister-President of Bavaria, added: “We need change, progress and openness to technology in order to achieve our climate targets. The federal government should finally provide adequate support and funding for the ramp-up of alternative drive systems and infrastructure, which will secure jobs and technological competitiveness.

“However, the traffic light coalition is damaging e-mobility by cancelling the electric subsidy. We must put our domestic industry in a position to be able to compete. Innovation and technology secure the future.”

Last week, Bayern’s Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund announced a deal with energy company RWE, which will introduce a “sustainable energy optimisation concept” at Signal Iduna Park.