News / Limp UK truck electrification rates hold back decarbonisation

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Logistics chains are proving a liability for UK organisations trying to meet their 2030 climate goals, according to a survey by contract logistics provider Wincanton, with 83% of respondents saying logistics plays a ‘key’ role in future decarbonisation plans.

More than half (55%) of respondents said they were not reducing emissions in their logistics fleet, with around 42% telling Wincanton researchers they do not know how to achieve the targets.

Similarly, 54% of businesses surveyed said they would struggle to meet net-zero targets, with just 25% believing that alternative-fuel vehicles will be affordable between now and 2030.

While there have been many stories to emerge on the potential of truck electrification in recent years, the actual uptake of electric trucks has been seriously limited, with very few journeys driven by batteries.

According to data from EV-Volumes, electric vehicles comprised just 2.2% of new Europe heavy-duty truck registrations in the first quarter of this year, an increase over the 1.8% recorded in same period in 2023.

For medium-size trucks, the share of new EV registrations, though higher, fell year on year in Q1 to 7.7% from 8.1% in Q1 23.

For comparison, in the first quarter of 2024, 14% of new bus sales were electric.

In the UK, as of June, there were only 300 electric HGVs registered, of a 500,000-strong truck fleet, according to the Road Haulage Association, with just a single public charging point available in the country – in Lancashire – forcing EV HGVs to operate over a shorter radius, of just 50-80 miles, and return to depots to charge overnight.

The recently appointed decarbonisation director of one of the UK’s largest truck operators told The Loadstar that in order to begin electrifying its fleet, the firm would first have to build a £1m electricity sub-station to charge the vehicles.

Meanwhile, more rapid decarbonisation could be achieved by switching to near-zero-carbon rail freight, but UK services currently offer little alternative in this respect – the government is targeting a 75% increase in rail freight capacity by 2050, though without HS2 to free-up rail lines for freight, there is little prospect of a major modal shift.

“[Rail] freight is severely kneecapped in an industry already on its knees,” rail expert Gareth Dennis told The Loadstar following the recent HS2 cancellation. The railway is already a deeply unappealing prospect for freight operators because of the limited capacity – it is just too much of a bother for them.”

Wincanton suggested that making more efficient use of the existing truck fleet could also help, with empty miles making up a third of truck-km.

“Too much fresh air is being moved around the UK, contributing to high emissions and high costs for businesses,” added Helen Flanagan, EyeQ product director at Wincanton.