Evidence on low-carbon technologies for commercial vehicles

This report examines the factors influencing the viability of low-carbon technology options for the commercial vehicle sector, focusing on total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) analyses and the impact of geopolitical, industrial, and geographic contexts.

• Commercial vehicles contribute a disproportionately high amount of road-transport CO2 emissions, accounting for 37% despite representing a small share of the global vehicle stock.
• The adoption of low-carbon technology pathways is shaped by strategic interests, including national priorities, geopolitical relationships, legacy industries, and existing infrastructure, which impact technology scaling, infrastructure rollout, and energy costs.
• While battery-electric trucks (BETs) currently lead technologically, their cost competitiveness for long-haul operations is uncertain due to varying assumptions regarding infrastructure costs, energy costs, purchase costs, and technology maturity.
• Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are pursuing multiple technology pathways to prevent policy misalignment and technological lock-in, though this diversification must be balanced against the need for economies of scale and the current maturity and deployment lead of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs).

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2026). Evidence on low-carbon technologies for commercial vehicles. https://www.sei.org/publications/evidence-on-low-carbon-technologies-for-commercial-vehicles/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Evidence on low-carbon technologies for commercial vehicles. 2026. https://www.sei.org/publications/evidence-on-low-carbon-technologies-for-commercial-vehicles/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Evidence on low-carbon technologies for commercial vehicles |date=24 April 2026 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/evidence-on-low-carbon-technologies-for-commercial-vehicles/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2026evidence, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Evidence on low-carbon technologies for commercial vehicles}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/evidence-on-low-carbon-technologies-for-commercial-vehicles/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }