State of Australia’s electric truck market: Experts weigh in

The road transport industry is the lifeblood of Australia, with trucks delivering everything from supermarket goods and online orders to medical supplies and essential services.

But the sector is projected to overtake energy as the nation’s largest emitter by 2030, putting mounting pressure on OEMs, legislators and operators to decarbonise.

Electric trucks are a crucial part of that solution. A growing range of models is available – with more on the horizon – but they currently account for less than one per cent of truck sales.

The technology is no longer in question. The challenge is whether it can be made viable for operators facing long distances, paper-thin margins, patchy charging infrastructure and policy roadblocks.

For World EV Day, Trucksales spoke with leading zero-emission heavy vehicle experts – from OEMs to industry associations – to assess the state of play in Australia’s electric truck market.

Electric trucks account for just 0.67 per cent of total truck sales year-to-date (to the end of August), according to the Truck Industry Council (TIC).

Despite the small base, numbers on the road are increasing. Volvo Trucks, for example, says its local zero-emission fleet has already logged more than one million kilometres.

Volvo’s Director of E-Mobility Solutions, Tim Camilleri, stressed that collaboration across OEMs is key when it comes to growing the electric truck market.

“Not that it always happens, but being pushed in a competitive situation is important. If you’re one voice, you’re not going to get much done, but if everyone’s got the same voice, saying the same things, it helps normalise it.”

Volvo now has electric trucks working in many of Australia’s biggest fleets, including Team Global Express with 36 units and Linfox with 30 units on order. Camilleri wants smaller operators to get on board too.

“The big deals are amazing, they’re super important, but it’s the ones and twos, the newest segments and the newest use cases that build confidence and spread confidence across the industry,” he said.

Camilleri added that while early adopters are already proving the technology, “fast followers” are now moving in.

“It’s the competitor transport companies now that are seeing the likes of Followmonts, Wickhams, Marleys, where others are seeing them and thinking, ‘We’re about the same size, we’re about the same operation, and we do work for similar companies, so we should come on this journey as well’.”

Hyundai Australia’s Senior Manager of Future Mobility and Government Relations, Scott Nargar, drew parallels with the passenger EV market.

“I really do think it’s like electric vehicles (cars), where there’s a bit of interest initially, but now it’s starting to stall and I saw that at Brisbane Truck Show this year where I expected to see a lot more zero-emission technology,” he said.

While adoption of electric trucks is still slow, early adopters are nonetheless showing what’s possible.

“We're seeing battery electric solutions emerge across a wide range of diverse applications, from the Volvo FH electric prime mover and triple trailer road train combination in the Port of Brisbane, to the smaller-capacity Foton rigid trucks in consumer goods and retail operations for the likes of Woolworths, IKEA, and Bunnings,” said Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) Chief Technical Officer, Adam Ritzinger.

Ritzinger said Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) obligations are increasingly driving fleet decisions.

“More companies are starting to consider their obligations and impacts, and those that already were, are now looking at their operations in greater detail,” he said.

“ESG is moving into the spotlight in large-scale business contract negotiations, and that shift naturally drives greater focus on what happens when the rubber hits the road.”

Adoption remains hampered by several issues – from vehicle range and suitability to charging infrastructure and costs. However, range doesn’t matter when it comes to short-distance, back-to-base applications.

Nargar said some operators are mismatching trucks to tasks.

“There are cases where the wrong electric vehicle is being used…we need to make sure people are using the right truck for the right application.”

This means OEMs and customers must now work in closer partnership than ever when picking the right electric truck.

“What was a transaction 10 years ago between us and our customers, is now truly a partnership,” Camilleri explained. “We’ve got a lot of value to add and a lot of understanding to ensure an electric truck is going to meet their applications.”

While government subsidies through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) have supported big fleets like Team Global Express and Followmont, the lack of concessions is likely stopping smaller operators from taking the plunge.

“There’s obviously that big capital expense, but then there’s those OpEx costs … but there isn’t a whole lot in the way of incentives,” Volvo’s Camilleri said.

Infrastructure is another sticking point. While the passenger car charging network is improving with more than 3500 public charging stations around the country, there are only a handful of charging bays that can accommodate a light truck.

“The issue is access to recharging stations for long-distance transporters, speed of recharging and reliability of performance of the chargers,” said Scania Australia Sales Director, Ben Nye.

“As a long-distance operator, you won't want to give BEV a chance until you know where and when you can access recharging points.”

While a standard AC wallbox charger will suffice for an electric car user, heavy vehicle depots typically require costly DC and solar setups.

“The cost of piping enough electricity to depots can run into the tens of millions of dollars for larger operators, and that investment funding does not appear to be freely available now,” Nye said.

Policy is equally critical as the industry urges for more to be done on that end to meet Australia’s ambitious decarbonisation goals.

HVIA Chief Advocacy Officer, Adele Lausberg, said:

“Member feedback has highlighted the urgent need for nationally consistent mass limits and access arrangements for electric trucks, a staged roll-out of charging infrastructure, and a well-designed package of financial incentives such as instant asset write-off, cash rebates, tax waivers, and reduced registration, permit, and toll fees.”

Experts agreed that a mix of policy support, infrastructure investment and OEM-operator collaboration is needed to increase uptake of electric trucks.

Nargar called for a rounded approach, including financial support to close the cost gap with diesel.

“I would suggest a policy within government that supports a percentage of the transition of those fleets with funding, so supporting the cost difference of those trucks.”

Camilleri added that de-incentivising combustion engines may also be necessary.

“It’s the carrot and the stick … whether you allow higher payloads, or access to roads at times at which the internal combustion engine isn’t allowed – areas like refuse or grocery deliveries – so open up flexibility to give the proposed alternative an advantage.”

Nye pointed to European low-emission zones as a model.

“Low emission zones have been effective in many European cities but have not been trialled in Australia yet. I’m not sure why not, but it would send a message and focus the minds of operators as well as legislators.”

On the advocacy front, Lausberg urged national coordination to incite change.

“Early efforts by regulators and road managers to encourage adoption and offer incentives need to be applauded, but the industry urgently needs national coordination on all efforts to decarbonise transport.”

“That need has been a key theme across all of HVIA's submissions to Government, and we are eagerly awaiting the review of the Net Zero plan from the Department of Climate Change, and its sector-specific plans for the transport and electricity and energy sectors.”

Experts remain optimistic that the future of electric trucks in Australia is promising and with the right mix of policy, infrastructure, technology and education, adoption will accelerate.

An added benefit of electric and hydrogen trucks is a reduced reliance on Australia’s limited fuel reserves and fuel imports, thus enhancing the nation’s energy sovereignty while reducing emissions into the future.

“Given that we’ve gone from five or six refineries, down to two refineries left in Australia, and we import about 98 per cent of our fuel now, it’s quite scary,” Nargar said.

“Electric transport has such a great opportunity because we’re a net exporter of energy – we don’t need to import it. It becomes a question of what we can do with our abundant resources here to fast-track the transition to zero-emission vehicles in Australia.”

Camilleri agreed, pointing to Australia’s strengths.

“We've got the land, we've got the sunlight, we've got the intelligence and capability within industries … you can make [energy] on your roof, store it in a battery, then dump it into a truck,” he said.

It’s clear the electric truck market is still in its early stages. But as OEMs, legislators, operators and industry bodies work together, zero-emission trucks are set to play a vital role in decarbonising Australia’s transport industry – one truck at a time.