In the EU, the pressure for long haul freight companies to decarbonise is growing. On 10 April 2024, the European Parliament voted in favour of a draft law that aims to reduce the CO2 emissions of new heavy-duty vehicles by 45% as of 2030, 65% as of 2035, and 90% by 2040 relative to the 2019 baseline. In addition, the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ electrification targets aim for 30% electrification of the heavy-duty truck segment by 2030.
Meeting such targets will necessitate a rapid uptick in adoption rates for battery electric and hydrogen powered trucks in the near future. However, diesel trucks still accounted for almost 96% of all new sales in 2023, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. The same year, a report by the fleet management firm Alphabet found that 45% of fleet managers operating small and medium-sized fleets are struggling to transition away from diesel. The primary obstacles to this adoption, as cited in another 2023 report by management consultancy Charles Rivers Associates, are increased operational complexity, high upfront costs, and a lack of suitable zero-emission products.
