According to the Department of Energy, current diesel medium and heavy-duty trucks account for 30% of the emissions on today’s highways – not to mention the noise pollution generated by these trucks. With the use of electric trucks, the trucking industry is trying to cut down on its carbon footprint on the world.

The current heavy-duty electric truck technology raises more questions than it has answers to. With today’s technology, a truck can travel 250 – 380 miles before needing to be recharged for 10 hours. This is about half as far as the current truck that can travel before needing to shut down because of HOS. This can lead to traffic congestion since more trucks will be required to make deliveries on time. In addition to the added miles, the weight of the batteries needed to power these trucks will reduce the amount the truck can haul due to federal weight restrictions, adding more trucks on the road to meet delivery times.

When speaking to smaller fleets and owner-operators, many are not currently interested in electric trucks. This comes from the Commercial Truck Trader survey: 79% said they would not add electric trucks to their fleets and 13% said “maybe, " 5% said they would purchase an electric truck immediately, and 4% said they would within five years. Owner-operators and small fleets tend to do their maintenance on their trucks to cut down on operating costs. Still, electric trucks will not be able to perform their own maintenance, leading to higher expenses.

Electric trucks may be the trucking industry's future, but at this time, many feel they are not viable for long-haul trucking. Electric trucks may be needed for local and last-minute deliveries – but not for the long haul.