Electric truck cheaper than diesel?
All indications are that in a decade or so, battery-powered trucks will remain predominantly on sale. According to forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the electric truck fleet will increase more than 140 times in Europe by 2030: from 3,600 units in 2022 to nearly 520,000 units.
The European Commission is even considering whether to introduce the sale of purely zero-emission vehicles as early as 2035. But for the time being, these are only plans, because all over Europe there is a lack not only of charging stations, but also of car parks where they could be placed.
For example, in Poland, whose hauliers are responsible for transporting around one fifth of the volume of goods, not a single one of the approximately 2,700 publicly available charging stations is designed for vehicles weighing more than 16 t. In other Central and Eastern European countries, and even in many countries of the so-called ‘Old Union’, the situation is not much better, which may be worrying in view of the ambitious plans of the European Union.
But there is also positive news when it comes to the shift from diesel to electric powertrains. According to Transport & Environment, citing independent consultancy TNO, by 2035 most new electric trucks – including those for long-haul transport – will be cheaper to run than diesel trucks. However, as T&E points out, if sales of zero-emission trucks are to reach almost 100%, it seems necessary to tighten the CO2 reduction target for truck manufacturers to -65% in 2030. However, experts point out that without public subsidies, most companies cannot currently afford to replace their fleets.
