Kögel Light Plus

The Kögel Light Plus is the lightweight curtain-sided semi-trailer in Kögel’s tarpaulin-vehicle range, listed on one product page together with its e-optimized version for electric tractor units. The curtainsider body type is described in trailer types explained. This page is built from Kögel’s undated English and German product pages, read on 9 November 2026, which list six Light Plus variants with a technically feasible fifth-wheel load, axle-unit load and total weight, a tare weight in basic configuration and a clear loading length for each, and from Kögel’s two-page leaflet for the e-optimized version, document 100-1119 of 03/2026, in its English and German editions. The figures in the overview above are the LIGHT PLUS P120, the first variant on the product page.

Overview and generations

Kögel’s product page introduces the Light Plus under the line “Making light work”. It describes a reduced frame-neck height, a weight-optimised frame and the use of high-quality fine-grain steels; the English page words the first as a “reduced head tube height”, the German page as a “reduzierten Rahmenhalshöhe”. Kögel says that, thanks to the modular design, many of the equipment options of the Kögel Cargo can also be chosen for the Light Plus.

The Light Plus is also available with additional weight-reducing equipment, which Kögel lists as aluminium rims, aluminium landing legs, lightweight tyres and aluminium air reservoirs. For the landing legs the German page has “Aluminium-Sattelstützen” and the English page “aluminum seat posts”.

No document opened gives a year of introduction for the Light Plus or describes an earlier generation. The e-optimized version is the subject of Kögel’s leaflet 100-1119, dated 03/2026 in both language editions.

Body

The product page lists three body variants.

The FlexiUse option increases or reduces the interior height by 200 mm. What an EN 12642 XL body rating covers is set out in load securing explained.

Frame and floor

The product page gives a 120 mm frame neck for five of the six variants and a 90 mm frame neck for the MEGA LIGHT PLUS; the e-optimized leaflet labels the figure “Height of frame neck”. In the quality-characteristics section of the same page, Kögel describes a sturdy, torsionally rigid, welded ladder frame with inserted cross members for high payloads and point loads, and calls it the backbone of the KÖGEL NOVUM vehicle generation. Corrosion protection is Nano-Ceramic with KTL coating, and Kögel grants a ten-year guarantee against rusting through on the vehicle frame.

The floor is a 30 mm thick screwed floor plate, rated for a forklift axle load of 5,460 kg as standard and optionally for 7,200 kg.

The Coil variant carries a coil trough of 7 m or 9 m length; the English page calls it a “coil tipper body”, the German page a “Coilmulde”.

Variants, weights and loading lengths

Kögel’s product page lists these six variants. Kögel qualifies every load and total weight as “technically feasible” (“technically possible” for the total weight of the 2-axle on the English page; “technisch möglich” throughout on the German page), and the tare is “in basic configuration” (“in basic version” for the Rail on the English page). The English and German pages give the same figures.

The English page calls the fifth-wheel load a “vertical load”; the German page calls it “Sattellast” and the axle-unit load “Aggregatlast”. The product pages give no payload figure for any variant. The fifth-wheel load is the load the trailer may put on the tractor’s fifth wheel, as the kingpin and fifth wheel explains; how technical ratings relate to legal weight limits is set out in gross vehicle and gross combination weight.

Light Plus e-optimized

Kögel says the e-optimized Light Plus was developed specifically for zero-emission tractor units, is designed for all brands of electric tractor units and for cross-industry use, and is based on the Light Plus. Its leaflet carries the line “UP TO 21% MORE PAYLOAD”, footnoted “with selected optional equipment”.

The leaflet gives Kögel’s reason for the version: electric tractors alter the weight distribution of the vehicle combination because of their batteries, and the additional weight places particular strain on the drive axle. Kögel states that EU Directive 96/53/EC permits a gross train weight of up to 42 tons for electric tractors, against 40 tons for diesel-powered tractors, while the axle load limits remain unchanged. How electric tractor units are built is described in electric trucks explained.

The change Kögel describes is a wheelbase shortened by 300 mm, which in the product page’s words “prevents axle load overload and ensures optimal load distribution throughout the entire trailer”. The leaflet adds that the trailer “does not increase tyre wear when cornering”. Its side-view drawing marks 6,090 mm (−300 mm) on a dimension line from a dotted mark over the tractor’s rear wheel to the trailer’s first axle, above a longer line labelled “Regular KÖGEL LIGHT PLUS” that carries no figure.

The leaflet, in both editions, gives the e-optimized version a tare of 5,170 kg; the English and German product pages give 5,175 kg. The product pages add the 13,620 mm clear loading length.

Axles, tyres and brakes

No document opened names the axle fitted to the Light Plus or describes its suspension. The only tyre and brake figures are those of the e-optimized leaflet: 385/65 R22.5 tyres and disc brakes of 430 mm diameter. The tyre size notation is explained in truck tyre markings explained.

Equipment and options

The optional equipment Kögel lists for the P120, the MEGA LIGHT PLUS, the e-optimized and the 2-axle covers RoRo accompanied (equipment for ferries and ships), steel transport (stanchion pockets, stanchions, overlength), paper transport, beverage transport, automotive, equipment for wide loads, chemicals (octabin) and tyre transport. The Coil list is the same without paper transport. For the Rail, steel transport is listed without overlength; the English page includes paper transport in the Rail’s list and the German page does not.

The product page also names three Kögel system solutions:

• KÖGEL COILFIX, a form-fit securing system for coils and slit strips made of insertion stanchions and an easy-to-use mechanism;
• KÖGEL Strong & Go, a body of the NOVUM generation with a reinforced roof and a side tarpaulin with an integrated restraint system for form-fitting beverage transport, which Kögel says complies with Daimler Directive 9.5 without insertable slats;
• KÖGEL Telematics, which displays among other data the trailer’s real-time location, coupling status, EBS data and door opening status in a web portal and in other fleet management systems.

Source notes

The figures shown are the LIGHT PLUS P120, the first of six Light Plus variants on Kögel’s product page, and the tare is Kögel’s own “in basic configuration”. Every variant has a 13,620 mm clear loading length, and Kögel labels the loads and total weights as technically feasible. The five three-axle variants share a 12,000 kg fifth-wheel load, a 27,000 kg axle-unit load and a 39,000 kg total; their tares are 5,175 kg for the P120 and the e-optimized, 5,860 kg for the Coil, 5,400 kg for the MEGA LIGHT PLUS with its 90 mm frame neck and 6,060 kg for the Rail. The two-axle version, on two 10 t axles, has a 20,000 kg axle-unit load, a 33,000 kg total and a 4,890 kg tare. The 30 mm screwed floor plate is rated for a 5,460 kg forklift axle load as standard, optionally 7,200 kg. The e-optimized version, for electric tractor units, has a wheelbase shortened by 300 mm; its leaflet 100-1119 of 03/2026 gives a 5,170 kg tare where the product pages give 5,175 kg, a clear height of 2,710 mm below the roof, a clear lateral aperture height of 2,630 mm, 385/65 R22.5 tyres and 430 mm disc brakes.