Electric Truck Sales Expected to Reach 160,000 Annually by 2023, Report Says
Sales of commercial trucks and buses that use electric drive technology are expected to grow to 160,000 annually by 2023, according to a new report by Navigant Research.
Electric drive and electric-assisted commercial vehicles sales were less than 16,000 worldwide in 2014, a 0.4% market penetration, according to the research firm.
Electric trucks are expected to make up 2.9% of the global market by 2023 with the highest penetration levels in dense urban areas, where governments are trying to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
“As battery technology improves, though, electric hybrid vehicles are now gaining traction in commercial applications where the technology offers significant benefits for drive cycles that involve a lot of city driving in stop-start traffic,” according to Navigant.
The highest sales penetration rate for a country is expected to be in Japan, where it is forecast to reach 21.2% by 2023.
“Overall, we expect diesel hybrid drive to remain the most popular of the electrically assisted medium- and heavy-duty vehicle powertrains for the whole of the forecast period,” David Alexander, senior research analyst with Navigant Research said in a statement.
“Battery-electric commercial vehicles will also see growth in demand within urban fleets that average low daily mileage,” he added.
