Electric trucks pass half of China’s heavy truck sales

New-energy trucks made up more than half of China’s heavy truck sales in September, and nearly two-thirds of the tractor units used for long-haul freight.

Sales of new-energy heavy trucks, a Chinese category covering battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, reached 33,100, up 37% on September 2025, according to compulsory insurance registration data published by China’s First Commercial Vehicle Network. That was 50.3% of the 65,800 heavy trucks sold during the month, up from 47.4% in August. The overall heavy truck market was down 21% on a year earlier.

Among tractor units, the prime movers used for long-haul freight, the new-energy share was 64.5%.

A steep climb

New-energy heavy trucks took 13.6% of the market in 2024 and 28.9% in 2025, when sales rose 182% to 231,100. In the first nine months of 2026, 226,400 have been sold, up 64% and almost matching last year’s total, for a 38.1% share. Diesel trucks accounted for 40.3% over the same period.

The share has not risen in a straight line. It peaked at 53.9% in December 2025 as buyers rushed to beat the end of trade-in subsidies and the start of purchase tax, then fell to about 23% by March before climbing again.

In June, 11 Chinese government bodies set a target of 40% new-energy heavy truck sales by 2030, along with 1.6 million new-energy heavy trucks on the road. Battery maker CATL expects new-energy trucks to make up half of China’s annual truck sales by 2028.

Battery swapping and diesel demand

Battery swapping is a big part of the shift. CATL’s Qiji swap network had about 300 heavy truck stations at the end of 2025, and the company plans 900 by the end of this year and 2000 in 2027, using standardised 432kWh and 513kWh packs that can be swapped in about five minutes. In August, CATL agreed to buy almost a quarter of Qiyuan Green Power, a heavy truck charging and swapping operator, for 2.56 billion yuan.

Electric trucks have also overtaken liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks, which took nearly 30% of the Chinese market in 2024. Energy analytics firm Kpler says electric trucks rose from 23% to 47% of heavy-duty registrations between March and July, while LNG fell from 37% to 11%.

Kpler expects Chinese diesel demand to fall by about 230,000 barrels a day in 2026, and estimates electric trucks will make up about 8% of China’s heavy truck fleet by the end of the year.

Chinese electric trucks in New Zealand

Chinese-built electric heavy trucks are starting to appear here too. Foodstuffs North Island’s Deepway Star electric truck covered more than 44,000km in its first six months carrying groceries around the lower North Island, and Auckland-based Etrucks is due to bring in Zeron’s 600kWh Jingzhe prime mover by January 2027.