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Anelectric truck is abattery electric vehicle (BEV) designed to transportcargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work.
Electric trucks have serviced niche applications likemilk floats,pushback tugs andforklifts for over a hundred years, typically usinglead–acid batteries, but the rapid development of lighter and more energy-densebattery chemistries in the twenty-first century has broadened the range of applicability of electric propulsion to trucks in many more roles.
Electric trucks reduce noise and pollution, relative to internal-combustion trucks. Due to the high efficiency and low component-counts of electric power trains, no fuel burning while idle, and silent and efficient acceleration, the costs of owning and operating electric trucks are dramatically lower than their predecessors.[1][2] According to theUnited States Department of Energy, the average cost perkWh capacity of battery packs for trucks fell from $500 in 2013 to $200 in 2019, and still further to $137 in 2020, with some vehicles under $100 for the first time.[3][4]
Long-distance freight has been the trucking segment least amenable to electrification, since the increased weight of batteries, relative to fuel, detracts from payload capacity, and the alternative, more frequent recharging, detracts from delivery time. By contrast, short-haul urban delivery has been electrified rapidly, since the clean and quiet nature of electric trucks fit well with urban planning and municipal regulation, and the capacities of reasonably sized batteries are well-suited to daily stop-and-go traffic within a metropolitan area.[5][6][7]
InSouth Korea, electric trucks hold a noticeable share of the new truck market; in 2020, among trucks produced and sold domestically (which are the vast majority of new trucks sold in the country), 7.6% were all-electric vehicles.[8]
In Norway and Sweden, the market share of electric trucks amongheavy trucks only (those heavier than 16 tonnes) was 7.8% and 6.5%, respectively, in the year 2024,[9][10] and heavy electric trucks made by traditional European truckmakers were in series production.[11]
Autocar Trucks and several other pioneering American truck manufacturers, such as the Walker Vehicle Company (seeWalker Electric Truck), offered a range of electric trucks for sale in the 1920s.[12] While electric trucks were successful for short-range work, especially in cities, the higher energy-density of non-renewable fuels soon led to the decline of electric-powered trucks until battery technology advanced in the 2000s.
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A few electric general lorries prototypes or produced by small manufacturers, and often converted Diesel units, have been built until the 2000s. Trials with different companies in real-world conditions, for several months or more, have been conducted, for example withRenault, E Force and Emoss heavy-duty lorries in the 2010s. Renault launched its small electricMaxity in 2010 andMitsubishi Fuso its slightly largereCanter in 2017. From 2018, other major manufacturers includingMAN,Mercedes-Benz andDAF began deliveries of prototypes or pre-production heavy-duty units to companies for real-world testing.
Series production of heavy-duty electric trucks already started, including those fromRenault,Volvo andMAN.
TheFuturicum Logistics 18E, first delivered in March 2021[13] toDPD in Switzerland, uses a 680-kWh battery and has a range of "up to" 760 km (472 mi).[14]
Last-mile delivery trucks are a growing segment of truck traffic with the increase in e-commerce and direct-to-consumer sales. Also known as Walk-in-Vans and box trucks, these trucks tend to be used on either fixed routes or with a fixed region for deliveries.[15] Large buyers of these trucks include Amazon, UPS, FedEx, Bimbo, Aramark and others. With use from direct-to-consumer sales to things like linen and bread deliveries or beverage distribution, these trucks are very common.Motiv Power Systems has delivered units used byUnited States Postal Service andBimbo Bakeries USA based on Ford chassis. These Motiv options have a variety of body styles from conventional manufacturers including Morgan Olson,[16] Utilimaster,[17] and Rockport.[18]
Lightning EMotors has delivery trucks built on the Izusu platform.[19]BYD Auto has several truck models ranging from class 4 through 8 trucks. GM subsidiaryBrightDrop is trying to develop custom solutions for this market.Rivian has supplied a significant number of electric delivery vans to Amazon.
Many large automotive companies have made announcements about their intent to enter this market with showcases of their prototypes.[20]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Chevrolet produced a small series of an electricS-10 pickup truck while Ford made a certain number ofRanger EVs.[citation needed]
In early 2009,Phoenix Motorcars introduced a test fleet of their all-electricSUT (Sports Utility Truck) to Maui.Miles Electric Vehicles imported the Chinese-designed ZX40ST electric small pick-up in the United States in the late 2010s.[21]
A Canadian company named Ecotuned offers an all-electric conversion of theFord F-150; these vehicles are used by the electricity provider Hydro Quebec andMontreal Airport.[citation needed]
As of 2022, Ford is manufacturing the all-electricF-150 Lightning (in a new factory built next to the existing one inDearborn)[citation needed] while Rivian is making theR1T all-electric pickup truck in Normal, Illinois.[citation needed] General Motors is making theGMC Hummer EV and theSilverado EV.[citation needed] In 2023, deliveries of theTesla Cybertruck began.[citation needed]
Models in production include:[22]
Announced models include:[citation needed]
Additionally, manyNeighborhood Electric Vehicles are, or were, available as light pickup trucks.[citation needed]
In the European market, as of 2025, electric semi-trucks from many traditional truck manufacturers are sold commercially (and not merely tested by customers on a limited scale). These manufacturers include Volvo, DAF, MAN, Volvo's subsidiary Renault Trucks,[25][26][27] Mercedes-Benz and Scania.[28] Volvo had the largest market share of the European electric truck market in 2024 (semi-trucks and other types of trucks combined).[29]
As of 2025[update], the battery capacity of long-distance trucks is about 600 kWh in the case of theMercedes eActros 600[30] or 500-600 kWh in the case of theVolvo FH electric.[31]
The Swiss company Designwerk (purchased by Volvo), manufacturing trucks under the brand Futuricum, built and delivered a few long-range electric semi-trucks by equipping them with a 900 kWh/765 kWh (gross/net capacity) battery. The range is estimated at 500 km (310 miles).[32]
In North America, in 2020, electric semi-trucks were in limited commercial use in California at Anheuser-Busch, GSC Logistics, Golden State Express (all using theBYD 8TT semi-tractor), Penske, and NFI (both using theFreightliner eCascadia semi-tractor). These trucks are not limited to operation within seaports ordrayage operations; their range (in the case of the BYD 8TT, 200 km (124 miles) at full load and 269 km (167 miles) at half load) allows use on regional routes. GSC Logistics demonstrated this by hauling cargo from the Port of Oakland, over theAltamont Pass, toTracy, CA and back. After returning, the truck still had 40% of its battery remaining.[33]
Electric semi-trucks from Volvo are also sold in the North American market.[29] Tesla joined in 2022 with theTesla Semi. Freightliner manufactures theeCascadia. TheKenworth T680E became available in 2021.[34]
Electric semi-trucks are also manufactured by BYD Auto (e.g.,BYD 8TT).
On 13 May 2021,Autocar Trucks announced the launch of the E-ACTT, afully electric terminal tractor. 98 years earlier, Autocar was the first major truck manufacturer to introduce electric trucks, in 1923.[35]
A 93-ton electric truck carrying wood waste started operating in Sweden in 2025.[36]
ThePort of Los Angeles andSouth Coast Air Quality Management District have demonstrated a short-range heavy-duty all-electric truck capable of hauling a fully loaded 40-foot (12.2 m) cargo container. The current design is capable of pulling a 27,000 kg (60,000 lb) cargo container at speeds up to 16 km/h (10 mph) and has a range of between 50 and 100 km (30 and 60 miles). It uses 2 kWh/mi (4.5 MJ/km), compared to 47 L/100 km; 6.0 mpg‑imp (5 mpg‑US) for thehostlersemi tractors it replaces.[37]
3.8 L (1 US gal; 0.83 imp gal) of fuel is equivalent to 33.7 kWh, according to the US Department of Energy.[38] This[which?] electric truck uses 1.2 kW⋅h/km (2 kWh/mi) which is the equivalent of using only 10 kWh per every 8 km (5 miles). The diesel truck that it replaces[which?] uses the equivalent of 33.7 kWh per 8 km (5 miles). Thus, the diesel truck is using 3.37 times the amount of energy that the electric truck is using. Therefore, the only variables that are stopping commercial use of electric trucks are original vehicle cost and driving range, owing to the high battery pack cost and lowspecific energy.[39] As mass production begins, the cost might eventually be comparable to diesel vehicles and with improvement in batteries the limited range of the electric truck might be a non-issue.[original research?]
As of 2022, the following models (among others) are available in Europe:
A common example of the battery electric trucks is themilk float. Because such vehicles make many stops, it is more practical to use an electric vehicle than a combustion truck, which would be idling much of the time; it also reduces noise in residential areas. For most of the 20th century, the majority of the world's battery electric road vehicles were British milk floats.[41]
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With a similar driving pattern of a delivery vehicle like the milk float, garbage trucks are excellent candidates for electric drive.[citation needed][attribution needed] Most of their time is spent stopping, starting or idling. These activities are whereinternal combustion engines are their least efficient. These and other factors such as ease of driver training resulted inBirmingham City Council opting to use electric dustcarts to start replacing its horse driven carts in 1918.[42] Its use of electric vehicles continued through a number of models includingElectricar DV4s until 1971.[42][43] Electric dustcarts were also operated by Sheffield and Glasgow.[44]
In preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, 3,000 of the internal combustion engine garbage trucks inBeijing were replaced withlithium ion polymer battery pack electric drive trucks.[45] The batteries were procured for about $3,300 each.[46] In France, some all-electric garbage trucks produced byPower Vehicle Innovation have been operating since 2011 in the city ofCourbevoie, the first local authorities in France to acquire them.[47]
In September 2014, an electric garbage truck, called the ERV (electric refuse vehicle), was deployed in the US city ofChicago. It was the first of an up to $13.4 million purchase order for up to 20 trucks.[48] The PO was won in a competitive bid by Motiv Power Systems in 2012, but only one truck was ever delivered. Chicago sued Motive in 2019, alleging the truck was inoperable more than 60% of the time.[49]
In Europe, as of 2020, electric garbage trucks have been ordered by Geneva,[50] Basel,[51] Frankfurt,[52] Duisburg[53] and other cities.[54] Traditional garbage trucks have extremely high fuel consumption, higher than American18 wheelers achieve on most routes. Using an electric drive instead of a diesel engine dramatically lowers energy consumption, yet it is still around 1,900 Wh/km or 3,060 Wh/mi. With a 340-kWh battery,[50] such a truck can still achieve a range of over 177 km (110 miles) before it needs recharging.
Some attempts to produce such lorries have been made; for example, one by PapaBravo. Electric mining trucks have the benefit of not polluting underground. In the case of high-altitude mines, the downhill trip with ore recharges the batteries due to regenerative braking.[55][56]
Solar panels on tractors typically support the HVAC system, or power devices used by the driver (hotel loads). Solar panels on trailers can be used for refrigeration batteries, for liftgate batteries, or for telematics. Small solar panels mounted on a refrigeration unit can serve astrickle chargers for the refrigeration unit's starting battery.[57][58]
Heemskerk Dairy combines vehicle-integrated photovoltaics with electricforklifts, to ensure quiet operations that keep livestock relaxed.[59]
In 2022,DHL announced that installation of solar panels on the roofs of 67 of its trucks would result in cost savings and a 100 kg/year reduction in carbon emissions per vehicle.[60]
Replacing heavy-duty diesel vehicles with electric alternatives is beneficial to public health as heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for a disproportionately large share ofdiesel emissions from the transportation sector.[61] The presence of diesel exhaust in the air increases the risk ofasthma,heart attacks andstrokes,lung cancer, and early death.[62] Newvehicle emission standards are expected to reduce local pollution around 2030 partly by encouraging electric trucks,[63] such as the Advanced Clean Trucks rule in some American states.[64] In Europe rather thanEuro 7 a CO2 standard may reduce local pollution.[65]
Some companies retrofits combustion trucks to electric, because it can be cheaper than buying a new electric one and brings the benefits of an all electric power train.[66]
In California, 70% of thesmog pollution and 80% of carcinogenic diesel soot comes from the two million trucks out of 30 million registered in that state. As a remedy, California has decided to begin the clean truck standard. California has started its zero emission truck program in which they accelerate the production and deployment of electric trucks.[67] At the end of 2021, California had 738 ZEV trucks, mostly battery powered.[68]
An Electrified Charging Corridor Project, with 5 charging stations for medium and heavy EVs, will be completed by 2023. Chargers are already available at TEC Fontana and TEC La Mirada.[69]
In 2023, theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the legal authority to California to require that half of all heavy-duty truck sales be fully electric by 2035.[70] By 2045, all trucks will have to be zero-emissions.[71]
In 2024, 7.8% of all heavy trucks (those heavier than 16 tonnes) sold in Norway were all-electric (371 out of about 4775).
For light commercial vehicles (a category which includes light cargo vans) the market share of all-electrics was higher, at 30%.[9]
In 2024, 6.5% of all heavy trucks (those heavier than 16 tonnes) sold in Sweden were all-electric.
For light commercial vehicles (a category which includes light cargo vans) the market share of all-electrics was higher, at 22%.[10]
InSouth Korea, electric trucks hold a noticeable share of the new truck market; in 2020, among trucks produced and sold domestically (which are the vast majority of new trucks sold in the country), 7.6% were all-electric vehicles.[8]
In China, by the end of 2020, there were around 466,000New Energy Buses (NEB) in operation, of which 378,700 buses are Battery Electric Buses (BEB), accounting for 66% and 53.8% of the total amount of buses, respectively. It is expected that 72% of China's urban public buses[relevant?] are expected to be electric by 2025.[72]
In Vietnam, the first 6 electric trucks for waste collection in Vietnam was launched in Hue City through the local People's Committee[73] for a pilot scheme in May 2023. This pilot was supported by the United Nations Development Programme's "Catalyzing a Sustainable Shift Towards E-Mobility in Vietnam",[74] which is supported by the government of Japan, through the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam.[75]
In Russia, Evocargo produces electric trucks.[76]
Launched by theCalifornia Air Resources Board in 2009, theCalifornia Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP for short) is part ofCalifornia Climate Investments.[77]
Electric-car battery-pack prices have fallen 13% in 2020, in some cases reaching a crucial milestone for affordability, according to an annual report released Wednesday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Average prices have dropped from $1,100 per kilowatt-hour to $137 per kwh, decrease of 89% over the past decade, according to the analysis. At this time last year, BNEF reported an average price of $156 per kwh—itself a 13% decrease from 2018. Battery-pack prices of less than $100 per kwh were also reported for the first time, albeit only for electric buses in China, according to BNEF. The $100-per-kwh threshold is often touted by analysts as the point where electric vehicles will achieve true affordability. Batteries also achieved $100 per kwh on a per-cell basis, while packs actually came in at $126 per kwh on a volume-weighted average, BNEF noted.
All major delivery companies are starting to replace their gas-powered fleets with electric or low-emission vehicles, a switch that companies say will boost their bottom lines, while also fighting climate change and urban pollution. UPS has placed an order for 10,000 electric delivery vehicles. Amazon is buying 100,000 from the start-up Rivian. DHL says zero-emission vehicles make up a fifth of its fleet, with more to come. And FedEx just pledged to replace 100% of its pickup and delivery fleet with battery-powered vehicles.
Electric vehicles, delivery drones and rules on when delivery trucks can operate are some solutions proposed in a new report. The report provides 24 recommendations for policymakers and the private sector, including mandating that delivery vehicles are electric. The report notes that if policymakers care about sustainability, they may want to impose aggressive new electric vehicle regulations.
Replacing fleets of medium- and heavy-duty trucks can help cut greenhouse gas emissions and make cities quieter and cleaner. Because trucks need so much hauling power, they have eluded electrification until recently; a battery that could pull significant weight would itself be too hefty and too expensive. But now, improvements in battery technology are paying off, bringing down both size and cost. The number of hybrid-electric and electric trucks is set to grow almost 25 percent annually, from 1 percent of the market in 2017 to 7 percent in 2027, a jump from about 40,000 electric trucks worldwide this year to 371,000.
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