A long haul: electric trucks still face speed bumps

Perth Now

01-07-2025

Ongoing uncertainty about electric trucks is preventing the transport industry making big cuts to pollution and progress may be tricky without significant changes, an inquiry has been told.
Questions about where heavier prime-movers can be used remain unresolved, experts say, as well as who will fund the costlier vehicles and how they can be recharged quickly.
Transport industry figures raised the issues at a NSW government inquiry into electric vehicle charging infrastructure on Tuesday, in its second public hearing.
The inquiry follows a series of regulatory changes allowing heavier electric trucks on roads in some Australian states, such as Queensland, NSW and South Australia, although many were part of a limited trial.
While the temporary rule changes helped businesses to test low-emission trucks, Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia chief advocacy officer Adele Lausberg said they did not offer the confidence needed to make long-term investments.
"If you're driving in South Australia, where they have a trial, and you cross the border ... the regulations (may) say you're not legally allowed to drive that on our roads here," she said.
Dr Lausberg said guidelines on truck charging stations were also yet to be issued with the Road Freight NSW calling for locations every 100 kilometres along major highways.
The inquiry was told many transport companies would need financial help from governments to invest in the technology, as electric trucks could command double the up-front cost of their diesel equivalents.
"Our operators sometimes struggle to make these investments because there's a two-to-three per cent margin by which they're operating and at the moment that's probably less," Road Freight NSW chief executive Simon O'Hara said.
"We have to make this as attractive as possible for road freight operators to be able to look at purchasing that next generation of heavy vehicle tractor."
Regional areas could serve as recharging hubs for the vehicles, Narrandera Shire Council general manager George Cowan said, although only with the right industry and government support.
The town has been in discussions to test battery-swapping technology that could support trucks travelling from Brisbane to Melbourne.
"We have thousands of heavy vehicles that go through our patch every day and we're trying to make sure we've got some capacity for those businesses to move into this electric market," he said.
Several Australian companies have trialled electric trucks including Linfox, which announced plans to order 30 electric prime movers from Volvo earlier in 2025.
Replacing diesel with electric trucks could significantly cut emissions, according to a report from the Climateworks Centre, as freight movements account for 40 per cent of all Australian transport pollution.