How EV trucks are Finding their place in India

India's logistics sector is edging toward a tipping point as electric trucking moves from early trials to serious adoption.

- Libin Chacko Kurian

Electric trucking in India is already taking shape on the ground. Energy costs are falling, batteries are getting better, and early adopters are starting to show what's possible, even as challenges like limited charging infrastructure and high upfront prices continue to hold things back. The business case for electric trucks is coming together much faster than anyone expected. India now stands at an inflexion point, where policy nudges, financing models, and freight corridors could accelerate the transition.

India's Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) fleet has grown sharply, from around 2 million vehicles in FY 2005 to about 5.4 million today. But fleet replacement hasn't kept pace with new additions. As a result, registration data shows that the average age of a long-haul truck has risen from roughly 8 years a decade ago to about 10 years in FY 2024.

It threatens near-term freight inflation just as the economy eyes a manufacturing-led upswing. “Yet,” wrote Nitish Rai, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of tech-first startup FreightFox on ITLN recently, “it also promises the commercial vehicle industry its biggest replacement cycle in a generation, one that could put cleaner, more connected trucks on the nation's highways by the decade's end.”

According to NITI Aayog, the trucking sector is responsible for one-third of transport-related CO² emissions in India. If India's trucking sector stays on its current trajectory, trucks will be responsible for annual CO² emissions of 800 million tonnes by 2050, with Heavy Duty Trucks (HDTs) accounting for over 50% of the share. The country clearly needs a solution.

Why EV trucking