Volvo will start manufacturing electric trucks at its Queensland-based facility from 2026, marking a significant shift in Australia's freight sector as the economics of electric rigs finally stack up against diesel rivals.
The move arrives as demand for electric vehicles surges nationally. Twenty-five per cent of drivers are now looking at purchasing an electric vehicle, compared with just 7 per cent before the war began, according to recent research. Global fuel prices have become the unlikely accelerant, with a diesel truck burning roughly 35 litres per 100km at about $2.30 per litre costing around $80, while an equivalent electric truck uses 130 kilowatt-hours, costing about $39 at commercial rates of 30 cents per kWh.
Linfox, an international transport and logistics provider with headquarters in Australia, has placed an order with Volvo for 30 heavy-duty electric trucks, the largest order to date for battery-electric trucks in Australia. Toll and Asahi have deployed five Volvo FE Electric rigids set to complete more than 36,000 deliveries per year in Perth, representing the largest route-to-market fleet of heavy electric vehicles in a single location in Australia.
The scale of Australia's freight dependency makes the transition urgent. Trucks move more than 250 billion tonne-kilometres of goods each year, and transport currently accounts for around 22 per cent of Australia's total emissions and is projected to become the largest source of emissions by 2030 without continued action. Yet electric trucks remain tiny by comparison. Fewer than 1% of heavy-duty trucks are electric in India, the U.S., and Europe, compared with 22% in China.
The running cost advantage is compelling over time. Analyst David Leitch estimates going electric for trucks on the Melbourne-Sydney route could be financially worthwhile in 2-4 years. Because electric trucks are cheaper to run and maintain than diesel, over time those lower transport costs can flow through the economy and help ease pressure on prices for households and businesses.
Infrastructure remains a constraint. Electrifying Australia's truck fleet is complex given the nation's reliance on high-productivity combinations, vast distances and limited public heavy-vehicle charging infrastructure, further complicated by a patchwork of state-based access systems that don't yet account for the additional tare weight of battery-electric trucks. Yet progress is accelerating. New Energy Transport will break ground mid-2026 on a depot in Wilton, south-west Sydney, powered by a mix of grid electricity and on-site solar with high-powered chargers capable of fully recharging 600 to 700 kilowatt-hour truck batteries in under an hour.
The real tension lies between urgency and practicality. Electricity costs are lower, but Australia's vast distances still pose challenges for vehicles designed for shorter range than diesel trucks. New heavy-duty electric trucks can travel 400-500 kilometres on a single charge, making them suitable for many regional freight routes and long distance corridors. China has resolved some range constraints by using battery-swapping technology in almost 40% of its electric heavy-duty trucks.
Globally, the shift accelerates. Global sales of electric trucks grew for the third consecutive year in 2024, exceeding 90,000 worldwide, largely driven by sales in China, which accounted for over 80 per cent of global electric truck sales. Australia's move toward local production, coupled with surging consumer interest in electric vehicles and mounting fuel costs, suggests the freight sector's transition has finally begun in earnest. The question is not whether Australian trucks will go electric, but how quickly infrastructure and policy can catch up with demand.