Electric heavy-duty trucks: reaching operational maturity

Introduction

The long-distance trucking holds a central location in the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC), which aims to achieve carbon neutrality in France by 2050. The SNBC calls for a a reduction of about 30%[1] road transport emissions over the next five years, and a complete decarbonization of the sector by 2050. However, long-haul trucks account for nearly one a quarter of the sector's emissions[2] : Their transition therefore serves as a catalyst a must-see.

In January 2025, Carbone 4 published the study“What technologies will power the long-haul trucks of tomorrow?”, which examines several options for decarbonizing long-distance transportation. Battery-electric vehicles are identified as the most suitable solution, taking into account criteria such as resource availability, cost, and energy efficiency. This approach is as confirmed by a July 2025 study by the DGE[3] and is consistent with the SNBC which aims for 50%[4] new registrations of electric heavy-duty trucks starting in 2030, compared with just 1%[5] in 2024. It is also part of the European framework which requires a 43% reduction in emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles by 2030 and a 90% reduction by 2040.

Such a transformation requires profound changes across the entire value chain: manufacturers, carriers, shippers, logistics providers, energy distributors, and charging infrastructure operators. Everyone must adapt their practices, whether it involves fleet renewal, logistics management, staff training, or the planning and installation of charging infrastructure. It is therefore important to to coordinate these developments in order to make it possible to large-scale rollout of electrification.

In this context, feedback pioneering players are crucial. They make it possible to assess operational feasibility, to identify the obstacles concrete and highlight the conditions for success. That is the purpose of this study, commissioned by Transport & Environment and Renault Trucks: to analyze, through four real-world and complementary case studies, the practical details of implementing electrification in long-distance transportation.