China aims to achieve a 40% market share for electric heavy trucks by 2030. That\u2019s almost half of the national fleet sales in less than five years from now. And if the country\u2019s new energy cars and vans, or renewable energy policy, are anything to go by, the People\u2019s Republic does not do half measures when it decides a sector needs to move. This time is no different.<\/p>\n
The master plan for decarbonizing the heavy-duty fleet is not a wish list but a roadmap built on a market that is already moving in the right direction. In 2025, China sold 231,100 zero-emission heavy trucks weighing over 12 tonnes, a 182% year-on-year increase. Penetration reached 29% for the full year. In December alone, it briefly hit 54%.<\/p>\n
That spike came partly from anticipating a subsidy fallout. Buyers rushed in ahead of the expiry of purchase incentives. But even canceling that distortion, monthly sales in early 2026 have held above 20% penetration and gradually limbed back above 30% in April and May. So, momentum is building up pretty satisfactorily, but the new plan now gives it a clear goal.<\/p>\n
The 2030 targets are specific. New-energy heavy trucks\u2014a category that includes battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell powertrains\u2014must reach 40% of new registrations.<\/p>\n
The total number of these vehicles should exceed 1.6 million units, which converts to about 20% of all heavy trucks on Chinese roads. They are expected to carry 18% of total highway freight volumes by then.<\/p>\n
To support the transition, infrastructure will play a key role. The government intends to coordinate the construction of approximately 3,000 charging and battery-swapping stations and to establish 30,000 kilometers of zero-carbon freight corridors along key national expressways.<\/p>\n
New and upgraded service areas will be required to include charging facilities or reserve space for them. In the most polluted zones, like the megacity clusters, the target is even stricter: 80% electrification of all fixed short-haul truck routes.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, China has figured out something that Europe is still debating: for heavy trucks, you don’t solve the charging problem with faster cables. You solve it with battery swapping.<\/p>\n
Last year, CATL launched a standardized swap pack for heavy trucks. Compatible with 95% of mainstream models on the market, the system allows a full battery exchange in under five minutes.<\/p>\n
The new government plan actively promotes the formula as a preferred business case. Truck operators are won over with compelling economics, too. A new-energy heavy truck saves approximately 1.2 million yuan (around \u20ac160,000) in operating costs over a 10-year lifecycle compared to a diesel truck.<\/p>\n
Compared to the European pace of heavy-duty electrification, the contrast is far from subtle. According to ACEA full-year 2025 figures, the EU registered 4,991 electrically chargeable trucks over 16 tonnes last year.<\/p>\n
Their market share represents 2%. Add in medium-duty and the total picture improves somewhat, but the EU’s electric truck share across all weight classes reached just 4.2% last year. The Chinese target of 40% is a far sight.<\/p>\n
However, growth is also real in Europe. Germany, France, and the Netherlands are the leading countries, and during the first quarter of 2026, the share of zero-emission drivelines has risen to 4.4% for trucks overall. Year-on-year, the segment rises 40%.<\/p>\n
On paper, the EU’s CO2 regulation for heavy-duty vehicles doesn\u2019t lack ambition. Trucks must cut average fleet emissions 45% by 2030, 65% by 2035, and 90% by 2040 compared to a 2019 baseline. Manufacturers who miss the targets risk fines.<\/p>\n
Europe has also implemented AFIR, a real infrastructure mandate that will cover roughly half to two-thirds of charging needs. But this is purely supply-side. It mandates chargers, but does not coordinate with fleet procurement, subsidies, or preferred technology paths.<\/p>\n
The China plan is broader, integrating infrastructure, technology standards, and zonal priority zones, among others, into a single, coordinated system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China aims to achieve a 40% market share for electric heavy trucks by 2030. That\u2019s almost half of the national fleet sales in less than five years from now. And if the country\u2019s new energy cars and vans, or renewable energy policy, are anything to go by, the People\u2019s Republic does not do half measures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":715,"featured_media":187923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\r\n\r\n{excerpt}\r\n\r\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[77162,77160,28,16,77169,4,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batteries","category-china","category-europe","category-industry","category-market","category-top-stories-today","category-transport"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=1820%2C1200&ssl=1",1820,1200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=300%2C198&ssl=1",300,198,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=640%2C422&ssl=1",640,422,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=640%2C422&ssl=1",640,422,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=1536%2C1013&ssl=1",1536,1013,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=1820%2C1200&ssl=1",1820,1200,true],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=18%2C12&ssl=1",18,12,true],"related-thumb":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1",640,480,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1",400,400,true],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true],"mailchimp":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?fit=560%2C369&ssl=1",560,369,true],"unipress-phone":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=640%2C100&ssl=1",640,100,true],"unipress-tablet":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=1536%2C240&ssl=1",1536,240,true],"unipress-tablet-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=1536%2C180&ssl=1",1536,180,true],"unipress-tablet-landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=1820%2C180&ssl=1",1820,180,true],"unipress-smartphone":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=1080%2C168&ssl=1",1080,168,true],"unipress-wide-screen":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scherm%C2%ADafbeelding-2026-06-16-om-09.30.21.png?resize=1820%2C180&ssl=1",1820,180,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"
China aims to achieve a 40% market share for electric heavy trucks by 2030. That\u2019s almost half of the national fleet sales in less than five years from now. And if the country\u2019s new energy cars and vans, or renewable energy policy, are anything to go by, the People\u2019s Republic does not do half measures when it decides a sector needs to move. This time is no different. The master plan for decarbonizing the heavy-duty fleet is not a wish list but a roadmap built on a market that is already moving in the right direction. In 2025, China sold…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Batteries<\/a>, China<\/a>, Europe<\/a>, Industry<\/a>, Market<\/a>, Top Stories Today<\/a>, Transport<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Piet Andries","url":"https:\/\/newmobility.news\/en\/author\/piet-andriesgmail-com\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"\n