How far can an electric truck go on a full charge in 2026?

The spec sheets tell one side of the story, but not all range claims are created equal. Manufacturer claims for electric trucks sold locally now span from around 100km at the bottom end up to 500km, with some OEMs talking about 700km within the next 12 months.

Australian conditions have a unique way of trimming those claims down to size, with long distances, heavy multi-trailer combinations, punishing heat and limited public charging all working against headline numbers.

But the gap between diesel and electric trucks is closing fast, and early adopters have now put enough kilometres on the silent runners for us to sort fact from fiction.

At the small end of the scale, the numbers already stack up, with the only limiting factor being cost – at around two to three times the price of a comparative diesel model.

Fuso’s second-generation eCanter is widely considered the most advanced light-duty electric option in the country, and trucksales own test of the two-battery 200km variant saw the truck comfortably match its claim when loaded to just over five tonnes.

The three-battery Canter variant stretches that figure to 300km, and DC fast charging will take it from five to 90 per cent in around 45 minutes.

Iveco's eDaily is also long-legged with up to 300km of range and the ability to add 100km in 30 minutes on a fast charger. Then there’s Foton's T5 EV, which claims 180km loaded, and Hyundai's Mighty Electric that covers around 200km fully laden.

For back-to-base metro operations, the options available today are capable of getting the job done. Large fleets like Woolworths, Australia Post, Bunnings and Team Global Express have already taken the plunge, proving the light duty options already work in the real world.

Step up to the medium-duty rigid class and the outlook remains positive – and overwhelmingly Swedish.

Scania's 25P, fed by up to nine batteries totalling 300kWh, claims around 250km of real world range at a 16000kg GVM. Total Logistics Solutions (TLS) recently added one to its Melbourne fleet for last-mile work, suggesting that 250km comfortably covers its typical loops.

Scania's next-generation 40 BEV is on its way to Australia, offering around 400km of real world range and a chunkier in-house battery developed with Northvolt, which should enhance the medium truck’s appeal greatly.

Meanwhile, Volvo's FL and FE Electric medium-duty models have been on local roads since early 2023, with the FE good for 275km at higher GVMs and the FL stretching to 450km. The models have been successfully put to work by players like Geodis, Toll Group, and Linfox.

Mercedes-Benz’s eActros 300 is also a strong long-range performer, covering 300km fully loaded while retaining 20 per cent battery in reserve during local testing. Perth-based Centurion runs 20 units, with more on the way, servicing customers across its metro routes.

The heavy end of the market is where the outlook becomes less optimistic. So far, electric trucks still can’t get anywhere near the range of typical multi-trailer diesel combinations.

Volvo’s FH Electric prime mover offers around 300km of real world range from its 540kWh battery setup, when running around loaded. That sounds modest next to the 1500km-plus you'd get from a diesel FH16, but the proof points are slowly stacking up.

In late 2023, a Volvo FH Electric covered 1185km from Brisbane to Canberra in around 19 hours, including charging stops – Australia's longest electric truck journey on record. More recently, Volvo Trucks Australia and South East Queensland Hauliers (SEQH) rolled out the world's first all-electric A-triple road train at the Port of Brisbane, proving an electric prime mover can handle 50-plus-tonne multi-trailer work.

Most convincingly, Volvo's electric trucks have now amassed more than a million zero-emission kilometres locally, and the truckmaker will begin assembling the zero-emission models at its Wacol plant in Brisbane next year.

For now, electric prime movers remain the domain of early adopters and are yet to be used in linehaul B-double or road train applications. Out on the highways, they just don’t cut it…yet.

A new wave of big-range electric prime movers is on the way.

The Volvo FH Aero Electric, due in the second half of 2026, packs up to eight battery packs, totaling 780kWh, for a claimed range of 700km on a single charge. It’s still not as far as a diesel will go on a single fill, but it’s a lot closer.

Then there’s the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600, which is currently on local evaluation. The big Benz claims 500km from its 621kWh setup, and a recent 2400km endurance run from Germany to Sweden showed it can cover more than 1000km a day with intermediate megawatt charging during driver breaks.

Range only matters if you can refill it quickly enough to keep the truck working – and that remains the biggest sticking point for electric trucks.

The dominant standard for heavy vehicles in Australia is CCS2 DC fast charging at around 350kW, meaning the growing public fast-charging network is technically sufficient. The issue is that a 26-metre B-double, or even a 12.5-metre rigid, simply won’t get in and out of the majority of charging stations.

So, Australia needs more public charging facilities for trucks, and various industry bodies are already lobbying to make that a reality. As it stands, fleets that buy an electric truck must also install charging infrastructure at their depot, which for a DC setup can set them back hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The real gamechanger will be the emerging Megawatt Charging System (MCS), which is a heavy vehicle focused charging standard capable of filling trucks at a rate of up to 1000kW.

At those speeds, a 20 to 80 per cent charge takes around 30 minutes, comfortably refuelling within a driver's mandatory rest break. Australia is yet to see its first public megawatt charger, with examples so far scattered across Europe, but they're coming.

So, how far can an electric truck actually go on a full charge? Further than you think, and the distances increase every year.

To sum things up, current light-duty models will comfortably cover 150 to 300km of urban work, which is a full day for plenty of back-to-base operations. Medium-duty rigids will handle 250 to 450km at working weight, and heavy-duty prime movers do 300km today, but will soon be doing 700km on a single charge.

The gap between diesel and electric is narrower than the headlines suggest, but it still exists – especially at the heavy end of the spectrum. But the real question for fleet operators isn't whether the range stacks up, its which jobs in your fleet match the range available right now. For a growing number of operators, light and medium options make sense today.

For a rundown of every electric truck currently available in Australia, check out our 2026 Electric Truck Guide.

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