Electric trucks deliver a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) in six out of nine major EU markets, which together account for 46% of all new heavy trucks sold in the EU, a new T&E report shows.
In the Netherlands and Germany, savings can reach €100,000 and €85,000 respectively over five years, with electric trucks reaching payback in just two years. With current high diesel prices, savings could rise to €123,000 and €106,000 respectively.
European truckmakers have dominated the market to date. But highly competitive Chinese and U.S. e-trucks are now being sold at a considerably lower purchase price. In Germany, this would mean €34,000 more savings over five years. In an industry with small margins and a focus on profit, this should serve as a wake-up call for European truckmakers, which must speed up and scale up e-truck production to remain market leaders, T&E says.
By 2030, E-trucks cheaper in all nine countries
T&E’s modeling shows that by 2030 electric trucks can be cheaper to operate in all nine EU countries analyzed. This can be achieved even when phasing out or reducing vehicle purchase subsidies by combining existing policy measures with a limited set of new measures, such as road toll exemption for electric trucks.
Stef Cornelis, director of freight and fleets at T&E, said: “Europe’s truckers are on the front line of the diesel crisis. There has never been a better time to switch from diesel to electric, but we need truckmakers and governments to support them. Rather than asking for further delay of the EU’s electrification targets, truckmakers should stick to Europe’s 2030 CO2 goals.”
“Governments can play their part by exempting e-trucks from road tolls while accelerating charging infrastructure and grid connections. Reintroducing fuel rebates is the wrong answer to this crisis and will only prolong the transport sector’s dependency on cripplingly expensive diesel,” he added.
Three TCO drivers
The E-truck market is growing quickly and the EU and its member states must maintain and implement the following EU measures to accelerate the transition using three TCO drivers: first, no further weakening of the HDV CO2 standards: the -43% 2030 CO2 target is crucial to ensure manufacturers offer more electric trucks and achieve the economies of scale necessary to further bring down prices.
Second, expand CO2-based tolling: Italy, France, Spain and Poland need to implement the Eurovignette Directive and exempt zero-emission trucks from tolling charges by 100% until 2031, and 50–75% afterwards.
And third, national governments should continue financial support for both public and private depot charging while accelerating grid upgrades and permitting.
Cornelis continued: “Europe’s truckmakers should be fully focused on increasing the scale of production of e-trucks to lower their up-front prices, rather than continuing their efforts to change the regulations. Every investor in the e-truck’s ecosystem needs stable policy, not going back and forth.”
“Maintaining the CO2 standards will be critical for Europe’s truck industry to compete with Chinese e-trucks and the Tesla Semi and avoid a repeat of what we saw in the auto industry,” he concluded.
T&E’s new analysis is published on the same day of the launch of a new online tool that compares e-truck and diesel costs across the same EU markets and the UK.
