NEWS /
Paris, France, Thursday 22 January 2025
The transition to electric heavy-duty trucks in Europe is no longer gradual. It has entered an acceleration phase.
This shift is not the result of a sudden technological breakthrough. It is driven by the alignment of regulation, vehicle availability, and economics. When those forces align, adoption moves fast and the primary bottleneck shifts upstream from vehicles to energy and infrastructure.
ICCT’s latest market data confirms that this inflection point is now underway.
According to ICCT’s European Heavy-Duty Vehicle Market Development Quarterly (January-September 2025):
This growth occurred against a declining market backdrop. Over the same period, total truck and bus sales in Europe fell by roughly 10%, with Germany, France, Spain, and Italy all recording double-digit declines. Electric heavy-duty trucks are clearly decoupling from the broader market.
The acceleration coincides with the introduction of new EU CO₂ standards for heavy-duty vehicles, which came into force in Q3 2025.
The regulation requires a 15% emissions reduction for new trucks over 16 tonnes compared to the 2019-2020 baseline. The market reaction was immediate: sales of zero-emission trucks covered by the regulation increased by approximately 30% from Q2 to Q3.
This pattern is consistent with other industrial transitions. Change happens in steps once policy pressure, economics, and supply align.
Globally, China provides a clear preview of where this trajectory leads. According to the ICCT:
China’s experience is unambiguous: once the market tips, battery-electric becomes the dominant pathway for heavy-duty transport. Europe is now entering the same phase.
As electric truck adoption accelerates, the constraint shifts upstream.
The limiting factors are no longer vehicles, but:
For fleets, the question is no longer if electrification will happen, but whether energy systems are scaling fast enough to keep pace.
At Decade Energy, we have long argued that the eHDV transition would not wait for perfect conditions or gradual timelines.
ICCT’s latest data reinforces that view. Once regulation, vehicle availability, and economics align, adoption accelerates rapidly — and infrastructure must already be in place.
Our focus is on building the energy and charging systems required to support heavy-duty electrification at scale, before infrastructure becomes the bottleneck.
Get in touch with us if you want to know how this affects your electric fleet and what you can do to...
International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), European Heavy-Duty Vehicle Market Development Quarterly (January-September 2025)
ICCT data from Q1-Q3 2025 shows Europe’s electric heavy-duty truck market has hit an inflection point, with sales up nearly 60% year-over-year despite an overall market decline.
By 2027, electric trucks outperform diesel on total cost of ownership, and the decisive advantage no longer sits in the vehicle itself, but in how fleets secure and manage energy.
The appointment strengthens Decade Energy's ability to scale fleet electrification and electric vehicle adoption while supporting a resilient, flexible electricity grid across the Nordics and Europe.