From 1 January 2026, companies in Flanders will no longer be able to apply for purchase support when buying a battery-electric truck. The Flemish Government has decided to remove electric trucks from the so-called ‘Ecologiepremie+’, the main regional investment support scheme for environmentally friendly technologies.
The decision comes at a time when the electrification of heavy-duty transport in Belgium is only just beginning and remains heavily reliant on public support. At the same time, another advantage of electric trucks is being scaled back. The kilometer charge exemption for zero-emission trucks, which was still complete in 2024 and 2025, will be reduced.
Electric trucks are no longer included
The official confirmation comes from the Ecologiepremie+ rules themselves, which state that the eligible technology list will be revised as of 1 January 2026. According to sector reporting and government communication, electric trucks will no longer be included on that list following a decision by the Flemish Government.
The Ecologiepremie+, administered by VLAIO, allowed companies to recover a substantial part of the additional cost of an electric truck compared with a diesel equivalent.
Depending on company size, the support covered roughly one-fifth to one-third of the eligible investment, with a cap of around €400,000 per vehicle and a maximum of two trucks per company. For many early adopters, particularly SMEs, this support was the decisive factor enabling pilot projects and first fleet deployments to be financially viable.
Electric trucks will continue to benefit from lower external cost charges, but the infrastructure component of the road charge will no longer be fully waived. As a result, operating costs for electric trucks will increase relative to today’s levels, further weakening the business case.
Easily +€100.000 more
In concrete terms, the policy shift means that from 2026, electric-truck operators will face higher upfront and operating costs than today.
Where an electric truck driving around 100,000 kilometers per year currently incurs no kilometer charge in Flanders, it would, from 2026, incur roughly €3,000 to €4,000 annually in infrastructure charges, even with the reduced tariff for zero-emission vehicles.
At the same time, the disappearance of the Ecologiepremie+ removes up to six figures in purchase support, potentially increasing the effective purchase price of an electric truck by around €100,000 or more compared with pre-2026 conditions.
Combined, these changes lengthen payback periods and significantly reduce the total cost of ownership, making electric trucks financially viable primarily for highly predictable, depot-based operations rather than for broad, market-wide adoption.
Only modest e-truck uptake in Belgium
This double policy shift matters because Belgium’s starting position remains modest, despite recent growth. After just 113 battery-electric trucks were registered in Belgium in 2023, uptake accelerated somewhat in 2024 and early 2025, with roughly 130 new registrations in 2024 and around 160 additional electric trucks registered in the first half of 2025 alone.
Despite the faster pace, electric trucks still account for only about 3% of new heavy-duty truck registrations, underscoring that they remain a marginal niche in the overall fleet.
Both public authorities and the transport sector continue to point to the same structural barriers: very high upfront costs, limited availability of suitable charging infrastructure, and ongoing uncertainty about residual values.
Further delaying
Transport organisations, such as Febetra, have therefore reacted with concern. They argue that removing purchase support at such an early stage risks slowing down the transition just as it is beginning to gain traction.
Without subsidies, electric trucks are likely to remain confined to specific use cases, such as depot-based distribution, port logistics, and short regional routes, where predictable duty cycles and private charging infrastructure make electrification easier to justify. Smaller hauliers and operators active in long-haul or spot-market transport are expected to delay investment further.
Compared with other EU countries, Belgium already plays a relatively modest role in subsidising electric trucks. The Netherlands, for example, operates a dedicated national purchase subsidy scheme for zero-emission trucks with recurring application rounds, giving fleet operators long-term visibility.
Germany has relied less on direct purchase aid in recent years but has backed the transition with large-scale public investment in high-power charging infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles.
Belgium, by contrast, has primarily depended on regional instruments, such as the Flemish Ecologiepremie+, without a strong, nationwide framework specifically targeting e-trucks.
Driven by budget pressure?
Flanders’ decision is primarily driven by budget pressures and a policy shift away from direct purchase subsidies. The Flemish government considers the Ecologiepremie+ an early-market instrument that is becoming increasingly expensive per vehicle as electric trucks enter the market. At the same time, EU CO₂ standards and zero-emission regulations are expected to drive uptake.
Rather than continuing to subsidize a small number of high-cost vehicles, policymakers are redirecting public funds toward structural measures, such as charging infrastructure, grid capacity, and regulatory frameworks, using 2026 as a natural reset moment in the subsidy scheme.
Critics, however, warn that this assumes a level of market maturity that heavy-duty electric transport has not yet reached. With the Flemish purchase subsidy ending in 2026 and road-charge advantages diminishing, Belgium risks falling further behind neighbouring countries that continue to combine financial incentives with infrastructure roll-out.
