Diesel trucks are the backbone of the national supply chain, but figures buried in recent sales data could mark the beginning of the end for these kings of the road.

One of the few positives to come out of the Western Asia war. We needed this petrol shock to do what we should have been doing much earlier. It’s great that the costs have gone down but lack of appropriate charges is still a problem.

Electric trucks had their strongest ever month of sales in March 2026, although they still account for a small proportion of total sales.

For the first time, electric models are available for the same up-front cost as their diesel equivalents, including for road trains.

There are anecdotal reports of a surge of interest in electric trucks as companies seek to reduce their exposure to the risk of future diesel price spikes.

  • zurohki@aussie.zoneEnglish
    5·
    11 days ago

    You don’t have to electrify everything on day one, though. A lot of trucks are probably doing less than 100km a day, with a lot of stop/start and idling which wastes a lot of diesel but an electric truck won’t care about.

    There’s a lot of low hanging fruit to pick before we start worrying about regional road trains in off-grid areas.

    • fizzle@quokk.auEnglish
      1·
      11 days ago

      I think you’d be very hard pressed to find a prime mover that travels less than 100km a day.

      They’re expensive gear. You literally can’t afford to leave them idling around.

      • zurohki@aussie.zoneEnglish
        1·
        11 days ago

        They aren’t idle, they’re just being loaded and unloaded or sitting in traffic instead of doing 110 on the freeway.