By Gary S. Vasilash

Although it seems as though the only electric truck that is garnering outsized attention is the Tesla Cybertruck, big trucks-as in medium- and heavy-duty cargo haulers—have considerable upside.* (Of course anything starting from a low base can have a big upside.)

As is the case with light-duty vehicles (trucks and otherwise) research firm IDTechEx finds that innovations in battery tech and a build-out of more charging are essential for the growth of battery-electric trucks. (Its new report “Electric and Fuel Cell Trucks 2024-2044: Markets, Technologies, and Forecasts” also looks at fuel cells, but we’ll let that go.)

No surprise that a lot of electric heavy-duty trucks were sold in China between January and June 2023: 11,500 of them.

By comparison, between Q1 and Q3 ’23 there were just over 6,000 electric trucks sold in the European Union, European Free Trade Association and United Kingdom, combined.

And in the EU, Germany and the Netherlands accounted for 65% of the 3,918 electric trucks sold during the first three quarters of ’23.

However, it is worth knowing that electric trucks represent a mere 1.5% of the EU market.

As for the U.S., IDTechEx forecasts that zero-emissions trucks could represent 13% of the medium- and heavy-duty truck sales by 2030.

Generally, estimates have light-duty EV sales being on the order of ~30% by 2030, so that 13% may say something about the durability, capability, usability, and economy of diesel engines.

However, zero-emissions they aren’t.

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*Yes, there is the Tesla Semi. But it is, comparatively speaking, somewhat stealthy at this point.