Electric trucks hit 50% of China's heavy truck sales, diesel demand falls

China’s shift to electric heavy trucks has accelerated from a 13.6% share of sales in 2024 to 50.3% in September 2026, when 33,100 electric trucks were sold despite a shrinking overall market. Sales in the first nine months of 2026 nearly matched all of 2025, and electric tractors reached a 64.5% share in September. The main driver is economics: battery trucks can cost less to operate per kilometre than diesel models, while battery-swapping networks address long charging stops. CATL is expanding those networks, and domestic manufacturers XCMG, SANY and FAW Jiefang lead sales. Electric trucks are also overtaking LNG trucks, once a popular alternative to diesel.

The transition is already affecting fuel use. Kpler estimates electric and LNG trucks together displaced about 680,000 barrels of diesel demand per day in 2026; electric trucks account for roughly 230,000 barrels, while diesel demand is forecast to fall by that amount over the full year. Road freight is still growing, suggesting trucks are moving more goods with less diesel, although higher fuel prices also contributed to the decline. Electric trucks will remain a small share of the total fleet for now, so further sales growth could deepen the effect. Adoption is far slower elsewhere: electric trucks account for 2.5% of EU registrations and well under 1% of US Class 8 sales, reflecting higher prices and weaker policy support.