Electric trucks remain a rounding error in Australia's fleet as diesel costs and import reliance bite

Trucks left behind in a record EV year

Australia's passenger EV market is booming, but trucks are barely moving. The Canberra Times, reporting the Electric Vehicle Council's State of EVs 2026 findings, records that battery-electric models accounted for just 0.6 per cent of truck sales and one per cent of van sales in the first half of 2026, while Australians bought 103,716 battery-electric cars and 54,241 plug-in hybrids over the same period, a 117 per cent rise on the first half of 2025. Electrified cars made up more than one in every four new vehicles sold. ²

The same report found the nation's EV fleet passed 612,000 vehicles by the end of June, and that more than 500,000 battery-electric cars were on Australian roads by the report's release. But Electric Vehicle Council policy head Aman Gaur told the Canberra Times that figure needs to increase tenfold to hit the 2035 emissions target, citing Climate Change Authority estimates, and that commercial electric vehicle sales would also need to speed up. ²

'Trucks are left eating dust and that's simply because we do not have enough financial support to help Australians,' Gaur said, pointing to small businesses running freight operations. He called on governments to remove restrictions on heavy electric vehicles and introduce tax concessions or financial assistance to boost adoption. ²

The regulatory squeeze: mass limits that penalise batteries

The core barrier may not be technology or price but the rulebook. UNSW Sydney, in a March 2026 explainer drawing on an ABC Central Coast interview, notes that under Australia's National Heavy Vehicle Law, prime mover steer axles are limited to 6.5 tonnes and six-axle combinations to 45 tonnes. Dr Elnaz Irannezhad, Senior Lecturer in Transport Engineering at UNSW, explained that current electric truck designs can carry up to eight battery packs weighing roughly 500 to 570 kilograms each, adding four to four-and-a-half tonnes before any freight is loaded. ³

To stay legal, Irannezhad said, operators would need to carry about four tonnes less cargo — and for combinations, battery weight can push total vehicle mass up by as much as nine tonnes, past the 45-tonne limit for six-axle combinations. She added that there is little to no battery-electric model availability for the B-doubles and A-doubles Australia's freight industry relies on for high productivity. 'So even if electric trucks are technically available, the regulations are basically prohibiting the transition,' she said. ³

UNSW's account also highlights cost: retrofitting a truck can cost more than $100,000, and high upfront purchase prices make operators hesitant. Irannezhad's assessment was that the transition is feasible but will be slower in Australia than expected because of so many barriers. ³

Diesel exposure and the fuel security calculus

The stakes are framed by Australia's fuel import reliance. UNSW notes that around 85 to 90 per cent of Australia's diesel — roughly 29 billion litres annually — is imported, so global supply disruptions hit freight immediately, with diesel prices pushing close to $2.70 a litre at the time of its March report. ³

The ABC's climate reporting in August 2026 adds national numbers: Australia had approximately 3.3 billion litres of diesel in reserve, enough for 36 days, and this year's federal budget included an $11.9 billion National Fuel Security Plan, of which $3.2 billion is for physically stockpiling diesel and jet fuel, aiming to lift reserves to 50 days. The only measure in that plan directed at trucking electrification was $40 million for Australia Post's delivery fleet, not even one per cent of the package. ⁴

The ABC's own back-of-envelope modelling, independently verified by Climateworks, suggests electrifying all diesel light commercial vehicles would save an estimated 5.85 billion litres of diesel a year, or 17.3 per cent of consumption; adding rigid trucks would save about 9.47 billion litres, or 28 per cent; and electrifying the full diesel road freight fleet including semi-trailers could save an estimated 14.36 billion litres, roughly 42.5 per cent of current use. Each scenario assumes full electrification and is an estimate, not a forecast. ⁴

Where the economics work: urban trucks first, long-haul next

A report commissioned by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, cited by the ABC, found electrification is most achievable with shorter urban 'last mile' deliveries — light commercial and medium rigid vehicles that return to base and charge overnight at depots. Industry observers told the ABC that electric versions of city delivery trucks now cost about the same as their diesel equivalents, and Climate Council analyst Ben McLeod said electric trucks had 'started to reach a really exciting tipping point'. ⁴

McLeod pointed to proposals suggesting a $3 billion package over five years could support 30,000 to 50,000 new electric trucks, displacing upwards of a billion litres of diesel a year and cutting operators' costs by over $30,000 annually. ARENA's report found 98 per cent of transport operators were small-to-medium enterprises with a median profit margin of just 2 per cent, and 70 per cent owned only one truck — which is why NatRoad chief executive Warren Clark told the ABC there is no funding available for small one- or two-truck operators and that industry cannot be expected to absorb the cost. ⁴

For long-haul, energy analyst David Leitch's modelling, reported by the ABC, suggests electric trucks could cut running costs by 60 to 70 per cent: a B-double costs roughly a dollar a kilometre on diesel versus about 30 cents on electricity, and a truck covering 100,000 kilometres a year could save up to $73,000 annually, recouping the higher upfront cost — electric prime movers still cost two to three times their diesel equivalents — within three to four years. The ABC notes Leitch has disclosed a shareholding in New Energy Transport, a company building its own electric truck charging infrastructure, and co-hosts a podcast sponsored by Janus Electric, a rival truck electrification company — a declared interest readers should weigh alongside his cost estimates. ⁴

Leitch calculates a national network of at least 165 megawatt charging hubs would cost between $6 billion and $14 billion, and estimates electrifying the Sydney to Melbourne B-double corridor could be done for under $5 billion, though he concedes that figure is optimistic. The ABC reports his research identifies grid connection as the single biggest cost variable, with a 20-megawatt connection alone potentially requiring upgrades costing $US3 million to $US8 million. ⁴

Industry calls for regulatory reform as the fleet stays diesel

Volvo Group Australia, one of the country's major truck makers, has added its voice to the reform push. In a March 2026 press release, it called for urgent regulatory and investment action to fast-track the rollout of battery electric trucks, saying electric trucks are already easing Australia's fuel squeeze and could do much more with the right regulations as fuel shortages and rising diesel prices pressure regional and essential industries. ¹

NatRoad's Warren Clark told the ABC that about one per cent of the national truck fleet is electric, that his members' trucks average 15 years of age, and that metropolitan freight can '100 per cent' be transitioned because those vehicles are back-to-base and can charge overnight. But he cautioned that building a charging network across regional Australia is an enormous infrastructure project that won't happen overnight, and argued that charging infrastructure is exactly the role governments should play. ⁴

The Electric Vehicle Council's report, as reported by the Canberra Times, also recommended extending the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard beyond 2029 and implementing a national road-user charge that does not discourage EV purchases, and scored the federal government, NSW and the ACT as the nation's best performers on transport policy while giving Victoria a pass mark for its electric heavy-vehicle trial. Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory ranked equal last. ²

With diesel prices at their highest average level since April — driven by Middle East conflict, according to the Canberra Times — and UNSW noting that diesel falling back to around $1.70 a litre could stall momentum again, the pressure on policy settings is likely to persist. Ai Group's Tennant Reed told the ABC that declining EV costs, improving performance and rising expected diesel prices have materially improved the business cases for electrified transport on climate, resilience and economic security grounds. ²⁴³