trans.info — 2026-05-19
Land transportation
The figure was reported by CLECAT, the European association for forwarding, transport, logistics and customs services, following an ACEA event on heavy-duty vehicles attended by representatives from the European Commission, Daimler Truck and the Swedish Association of Road Transport Companies.
According to CLECAT, speakers at the event said around 400,000 electric trucks may be required by 2030 if the EU is to meet its heavy-duty vehicle decarbonisation goals. The European Commission’s current CO₂ standards require a 45% reduction in emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles by 2030, rising to 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2040, compared with 2019 levels.
The trucks are coming, but the system is not ready
Panellists described the transition towards zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles as already under way and “largely irreversible”. The market for electric HDVs had almost doubled compared with the first quarter of 2025, according to figures presented at the event.
But the same discussion also pointed to a widening gap between vehicle deployment and the enabling conditions needed to make electric trucks viable at scale.
CLECAT said charging infrastructure, electricity grid access and uneven national implementation were identified as the main bottlenecks. Industry representatives warned that delays in grid connections are already slowing down vehicle deployment, even where customer interest and order books are growing.
Depot charging becomes the pressure point
The Brussels discussion also highlighted the growing importance of depot charging, particularly for small and medium-sized operators. Depot charging can offer fleets lower and more predictable energy costs than relying on public charging, but it often requires grid upgrades, planning work, land use decisions and capital investment before a truck can be operated efficiently.
CLECAT said participants called for greater support for private and semi-public depot charging solutions, especially for SMEs. Without that, larger fleets with stronger balance sheets and better access to infrastructure may be able to electrify faster, while smaller operators risk being left behind.
The issue is not limited to the number of chargers. Grid capacity, connection timelines and the ability to charge several heavy vehicles at the same site can determine whether an electric truck is commercially usable on a given route.
A two-speed Europe for electric trucks
The event also raised concerns about fragmentation across the EU. CLECAT said diverging national approaches and different levels of infrastructure readiness could create a “two-speed Europe” for heavy-duty electrification.
That concern is already visible in market data. Previous analysis cited by CLECAT pointed to Germany, France and the Netherlands as the main centres of electric truck sales, while uptake remains much weaker in parts of Southern and Eastern Europe. ING Research has estimated that one in three new trucks sold in the EU will need to be electric to meet 2030 climate targets.
Transport & Environment has also reported that electric truck sales accelerated after the first EU truck CO₂ target took effect, with 5.6% of new trucks electric since July 2025, compared with 3.5% in the previous 12 months. However, it also noted that Europe remains behind China, where electric trucks accounted for a much higher share of the market.
The policy question is shifting
The Brussels message is not that electric trucks are failing to arrive. It is that the sector is moving from a vehicle-availability question to an infrastructure-delivery question.
Manufacturers are bringing more electric models to market and fleet interest is rising. But the figures reported by CLECAT show how far the operating fleet still has to move: from 2.4% zero-emission trucks in Q1 2026 to a possible requirement for hundreds of thousands of electric trucks by 2030.