The ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars generates all the headlines, but equally significant legislation looms on the horizon: from 2035 all new HGVs weighing 26 tonnes or under must be zero emission, before the rules expand to every new HGV in 2040.
Let’s briefly set aside the red herring that ‘zero emission’ could mean hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles: while such technology exists, production HFC HGVs don’t in any meaningful sense; when you read zero emission, think electric.
Mandating electric heavy goods vehicles is, to put it politely, ambitious. Car makers may be wringing their hands in despair at the fact the 381,970 EVs sold last year meant they missed the 22% Zero Emission Vehicle target by 2.4%, but compared to EV HGVs they’re flying off the shelves.
Of the 11,561 new HGVs registered in the last quarter of 2024, just 51 (not a typo) were zero emission – equivalent to 0.44% of the market. Incredibly, this was actually a decrease over Q4 2023, when the 55 zero-emission HGVs that found new homes represented 0.46% of sales.
It takes very little thought to know that electric HGVs are a fool’s errand. While concerns about range among car drivers are understandable, they are also at least partly assuaged by the fact most journeys are under 20 miles, and few of us drive more in a week than a typical EV can manage on one charge.
But trucks? Well, the Road Haulage Association estimates the median distance covered by 44-tonne articulated lorry is 75,000 miles a year, equivalent to 1,442 miles a week or 288 miles a day – roughly 10 times the average car driver.
Comparing such needs against what EV HGVs are capable of is rather a depressing exercise. Many electric trucks can travel “up to 400km”, which is 248 miles. Setting aside real-world versus official ranges, this is a quarter of what a diesel truck can manage between refuelling stops, and it’s also short of a day’s average drive, meaning truckers will need to add a couple of hours (way more than their mandated 45-minute breaks) to their shifts for recharging – every day.
Then there’s the issue of weight, which is a key metric for haulage. Scania’s largest 728kWh battery offers a theoretical range of 331 miles at 40 tonnes and comes in at slightly over four tonnes, excluding motors. That’s three tonnes more than the firm’s 13-litre diesel engine, immediately robbing that additional mass from the load.
HGV gross weight limits stand at 44 tonnes due to acceptable infrastructure and collision risks, and while a concession to increase this to 48 tonnes is being considered, this is full-blown legislation going through parliament, as 44-tonne limits were set for good reason.
Weight in the haulage industry is intrinsically linked to margins, which are “lower than the average profit margin in the UK economy” according to a 2024 DfT report, and can be as little as 4.3% for big trucking companies. Knocking a few tonnes off an HGV’s carrying capacity because it’s hauling around four tonnes of batteries, around 10% of a truck’s legal maximum weight, could wipe out all profitability. Expecting firms to pay around 40% more for this privilege (for this is the premium electric trucks carry), while also factoring in the downtime necessitated by recharging, is not an attractive commercial proposition.
Picture it this way: a diesel truck engine is one strong horse that costs £5,000 and can haul a wagon for a solid day; an electric HGV powertrain is four heavy nags that cost £5k each and can pull the same amount for just four hours, before having to stop for two.
The EV HGV policy was clearly dreamt up on the hoof by the previous Conservative government, but it is clearly not fit for purpose and should be sent to the knacker’s yard by the current administration.
