Electric HGVs will soon be cheaper overall than diesels in the UK

Battery electric trucks could start delivering more of the UK’s goods much earlier than previously thought, according to new research published today. The study, commissioned from industry experts Element Energy by Transport & Environment UK, shows that battery electric trucks can already start to replace diesel trucks for most uses in the next few years. 

City, urban and regional deliveries with rigid HGVs are on the cusp of being cheaper on a ‘total cost of ownership’ basis – factoring in purchase price, and energy and maintenance costs, even with the most pessimistic assumptions about fuel and battery prices – with battery electric trucks. Electric lorries will reach cost parity with diesel in the remaining use cases, including articulated supermarket deliveries, by the early 2030s. Battery electric truck models coming on to the market in the next year will be able to meet the required range and other operational needs of most truck uses in the UK.

Far fewer trucks will require public charge points away from their depots than has been suggested previously, the research finds. Trucks usually take shorter journeys in the UK compared to other European countries because of Britain’s island geography and dense pattern of development. Well over half of British HGVs will only ever need to be charged at their home depot, according to the study. 93% of the 400,000 truck chargers needed by 2050 will be for depots.

Richard Hebditch, director of Transport & Environment UK, said: “The UK’s island geography and density mean lorries do relatively short journeys and the lion’s share of truck charging will happen in depots. Yes, we’ll need some public charging but we can make lots of progress now without the need for serried ranks of chargers at every motorway service station. The Government mustn’t miss the opportunity now to kick start the take-up of electric trucks.”

The researchers conclude that the Government’s 2035 and 2040 phase-out dates for sales of diesel HGVs can be achieved ahead of time. But the Government has still not set out a detailed plan to enable the transition to zero-emission trucks. To speed up the switch and reduce truck CO₂ emissions and toxic air pollution, they recommend:

1. Introducing interim ZEV mandates;
2. Supporting UK supply chain development for battery electric trucks;
3. Providing more effective vehicle acquisition incentives;
4. Supporting the roll-out of private charging infrastructure for depot-based fleets;
5. Lowering the early-years risks to public truck charging infrastructure providers through zero/low interest loans;
6. Supporting public charging at major warehouses and logistics hubs;
7. Considering changes to vehicle weight and length limits to support electric trucks;
8. Reviewing where appropriate driver hours regulations and rest stops.

The recommendations have been endorsed by the UK Platform for Battery Electric Trucking, an advisory group of stakeholders which includes experts from: UPS, John Lewis Partnership, Centre for Sustainable Road Freight, GRIDSERVE, Zemo Partnership, and Element Energy.

Richard Hebditch said: “Our research shows that the UK’s phase-out dates for diesel trucks are very achievable, but the government has yet to set out a plan to make it happen. Key to this is early support for those making the switch to battery electric trucks. This will cost money in the short-term and the Treasury needs to get behind this to help unlock the benefits for the UK economy in the long-run.”

Read more:

Element Energy study, and recommendations by the UK Platform for Battery Electric Trucking

Notes to editors:

1. Transport & Environment UK is the UK arm of Transport & Environment, Europe’s independent expert in enabling clean transport for all. T&E UK works to end greenhouse gas emissions from transport in the UK, covering road transport, shipping and aviation. Set up in 2019, T&E UK supports policy makers with evidence-based solutions to decarbonise transport in the UK. 

2. Transport & Environment UK commissioned Element Energy to examine the techno-economic feasibility of accelerating the adoption of battery electric trucks with static charging infrastructure. The study evaluates a wide range of common operational profiles and develops optimal combinations of battery size, depot-based charging infrastructure, opportunity-charging at pick-up/delivery sites and, for those use cases that would need it, high-power public charging infrastructure. A large number of vehicle duty cycles have been studied, capturing (from a comprehensive dataset) a large and representative spread of different HGV operations, including those pushing the extremes of payload and journey distances.

3. The suite of research consists of:

• • Summary of policy recommendations, endorsed by members of the UK Platform for Battery Electric Trucking
  • Transport & Environment UK summary of the research
  • Full slide deck from Element Energy on phase one of the research on HGV use cases not needing public charging infrastructure
  • Full slide deck from Element Energy on phase two of the research on HGV use cases needing public charging infrastructure

4. ERM Group company, Element Energy is a strategic consultancy specialising in the intelligent analysis of low and zero carbon energy across all areas of the energy sector.

5. Definitions from total cost of ownership break even dates