Electric trucks cheaper to operate than diesel for almost half of trucks sold in EU - new analysis

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 go up to €100,000 and €85,000 respectively over five years, with electric trucks reaching their payback time after only 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 US e-trucks are now being sold with a considerably lower purchase price. In Germany, this would mean €34,000 more savings over five years. In an industry of small margins focused on profit, this should act as a wake up call for European truckmakers, which must speed- and scale-up the production of e-trucks to remain market leaders, T&E says.

T&E’s modelling shows that by 2030 electric trucks can be cheaper to operate in all nine EU countries analysed. 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 in doing so. Rather than asking for further delay 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 .”

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:

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.”

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.