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An electric truck is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work.
Electric trucks have serviced niche applications like , pushback tugs and forklifts for over a hundred years, typically using lead–acid batteries, but the rapid development of lighter and more energy-dense battery 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. According to the United States Department of Energy, the average cost per kWh 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.
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.
In South 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.Hyundai Porter/Porter II Electric: 9037. Kia Bongo EV: 5357. Domestically produced trucks sold in the country: 188222. mk.co.kr autoview.co.kr zdnet.co.kr
In Norway and Sweden, the market share of electric trucks among heavy trucks only (those heavier than 16 tonnes) was 7.8% and 6.5%, respectively, in the year 2024, and heavy electric trucks made by traditional European truckmakers were in series production.
Series production of heavy-duty electric trucks already started, including those from Renault Trucks, Volvo Trucks and MAN.
The Futuricum Logistics 18E, first delivered in March 2021 to DPDgroup in Switzerland, uses a 680-kWh battery and has a range of "up to" .
Lightning EMotors has delivery trucks built on the Izusu platform. BYD Auto has several truck models ranging from class 4 through 8 trucks. GM subsidiary BrightDrop 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.
In early 2009, Phoenix Motorcars introduced a test fleet of their all-electric SUT (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.
A Canadian company named Ecotuned offers an all-electric conversion of the Ford F-150; these vehicles are used by the electricity provider Hydro Quebec and Montreal Airport.
As of 2022, Ford is manufacturing the all-electric F-150 Lightning (in a new factory built next to the existing one in Dearborn) while Rivian is making the R1T all-electric pickup truck in Normal, Illinois. General Motors is making the GMC Hummer EV and the Silverado EV. In 2023, deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck began.
Announced models include:
Additionally, many Neighborhood Electric Vehicles are, or were, available as light pickup trucks.
, the battery capacity of long-distance trucks is about 600 kWh in the case of the Mercedes eActros 600 or 500-600 kWh in the case of the Volvo FH electric.
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 .
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 the BYD 8TT semi-tractor), Penske, and NFI (both using the Freightliner eCascadia semi-tractor). These trucks are not limited to operation within seaports or drayage operations; their range (in the case of the BYD 8TT, at full load and at half load) allows use on regional routes. GSC Logistics demonstrated this by hauling cargo from the Port of Oakland, over the Altamont Pass, to Tracy, CA and back. After returning, the truck still had 40% of its battery remaining.
Electric semi-trucks from Volvo are also sold in the North American market. Tesla joined in 2022 with the Tesla Semi. Freightliner manufactures the eCascadia. The Kenworth T680E became available in 2021.
Electric semi-trucks are also manufactured by BYD Auto (e.g., BYD 8TT).
On 13 May 2021, Autocar Company announced the launch of the E-ACTT, a fully electric terminal tractor. 98 years earlier, Autocar was the first major truck manufacturer to introduce electric trucks, in 1923.
A 93-ton electric truck carrying wood waste started operating in Sweden in 2025.
of fuel is equivalent to 33.7 kWh, according to the US Department of Energy. This electric truck uses which is the equivalent of using only 10 kWh per every . The diesel truck that it replaces uses the equivalent of 33.7 kWh per . 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 low [[specific energy]]. 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.
In preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, 3,000 of the internal combustion engine garbage trucks in Beijing were replaced with lithium ion polymer battery pack electric drive trucks. The batteries were procured for about $3,300 each. In France, some all-electric garbage trucks produced by Power Vehicle Innovation have been operating since 2011 in the city of Courbevoie, the first local authorities in France to acquire them.
In September 2014, an electric garbage truck, called the ERV (electric refuse vehicle), was deployed in the US city of Chicago. It was the first of an up to $13.4 million purchase order for up to 20 trucks. 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.
In Europe, as of 2020, electric garbage trucks have been ordered by Geneva, Basel, Frankfurt, Duisburg and other cities. Traditional garbage trucks have extremely high fuel consumption, higher than American 18 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, such a truck can still achieve a range of over 177 km (110 miles) before it needs recharging.
Heemskerk Dairy combines vehicle-integrated photovoltaics with electric , to ensure quiet operations that keep livestock relaxed.
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.
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.
In 2023, the U.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. By 2045, all trucks will have to be zero-emissions.
For light commercial vehicles (a category which includes light cargo vans) the market share of all-electrics was higher, at 30%.
For light commercial vehicles (a category which includes light cargo vans) the market share of all-electrics was higher, at 22%.
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