FOR RELEASE: March 16, 2021

CONTACT: Josh Goldman, jgoldman@climatenexus.org. 

Researchers find that medium- and long-haul electric trucks are 13% cheaper to own than diesel trucks today, and can be almost 50% cheaper to own by 2030.

New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the University of California Los Angeles, and the Center for Environmental Public Policy (CEPP) at UC Berkeley finds that unforeseen drops in the price of electric vehicle batteries has enabled Class 8 long-haul electric trucks to have a 13% lower total cost of ownership than similar diesel models today, saving electric truck owners up to $200,000 over the life of each truck. 

“It is very exciting to see that heavy duty trucks can electrify much faster than what is commonly believed,” said Dr. Amol Phadke, lead author and staff scientist at Berkeley Lab. “Because electric trucks are already cheaper to own than diesel models, they are creating a financial motive for fleet and independent truck owners to demand more electric options from truck manufacturers.”   

Electrifying the trucking sector would benefit the climate and communities of color - trucks are responsible for 28% of the climate pollution from transportation, the biggest source of emissions in the U.S. Diesel trucks are responsible for $58 billion in air pollution damages caused each year, and Black and Latinx Americans are exposed to 25% more of this pollution than white Americans. 

“The case for society to undertake the necessary investments to facilitate quicker adoption of electric trucks has never been stronger,” said Deepak Rajagopal, co-author and associate professor at the University of California Los Angeles. “But to realize the benefits we estimate, large-scale and coordinated investments are needed.” 

“In some ways medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are pretty easy to electrify,” said David Wooley, co-author and Director of the Center for Environmental Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. “They tend to charge at central locations or along freeway corridors, have regular duty cycles, and have high fuel and maintenance savings because of their high mileage rates. They can also provide drivers with less noise, vibration and diesel fumes.”

The authors note the need for a supportive policy environment to give the truck industry confidence in investing in manufacturing, batteries, charging infrastructure, and end-of-life management. Without such support, electric trucks could struggle to compete with the mature diesel-truck industry, delaying the massive environmental and economic benefits set to come from electrifying the trucking sector. However, should policymakers seize this moment and facilitate the transition to an all-electric trucking future, the authors conclude that electric trucks could offer close to a 50% lower total cost of ownership compared to diesel models by 2030.