As Europe gradually phases out heavy-duty diesel trucks, Traton is gearing up production of its electric models. The company is also helping to install hundreds of public chargers to aid the growth of electric freight transport across Europe. 

Every day, trucks carry many millions of tons of cargo down roads and highways around the world. Nearly all run on diesel and make up one of the largest commercial sources of carbon emissions. Traton is producing a wide variety of zero-emission trucks that could help clean up this sector while also investing in a Europe-wide advanced charging network so other manufacturers can more easily follow suit. 

In Europe especially, the next decade could see tremendous growth in electric truck adoption. New CO2 emission standards require new diesel trucks to essentially be phased out of production by 2040. And given that trucks typically operate for around 15 years, more owners will be considering electric models for their next purchase. 

Today, Traton is a company in transition. A subsidiary of Volkswagen, it is made up of a collection of commercial vehicle brands, including Scania, MAN, and International. While it still manufactures conventional trucks that run on fossil fuels, it’s making rapid progress in the EV space. Some of Scania’s long-haul electric semis can travel about 350 miles before needing to recharge, for example. 

Its EV models are also starting to pick up in terms of sales. In the first half of 2025, Traton sold 1,250 electric models globally, which was twice as many as during the same period last year. That puts it not far behind Volvo, another market leader. Traton is now ramping up production—MAN recently opened a new factory line that can assemble electric and diesel trucks interchangeably. That should also help bring costs down, key to success for the sector—today, the price of an electric truck can be several times higher than for diesel ones. 

What’s more, Traton is working to install hundreds of publicly available chargers across Europe through an industry partnership called Milence. That group has also invested in high-powered chargers that can deliver more than 1 megawatt of power to heavy-duty trucks, allowing trucks to recharge in 45 minutes or less (for comparison, rapid chargers available for cars today deliver between 50 and 350 kilowatts).

Key indicators

• Industry: Electric vehicles 
• Founded: 2015 
• Headquarters: Munich, Germany
• Notable fact: One of Traton’s subsidiaries is a leading school bus manufacturer in the US and Canada, where it debuted its first electric school bus in 2021.

Potential for impact 

Moving freight produces about 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Most of that pollution (65%) comes from trucks and vans—more than cargo ships, trains, and planes combined. And the World Economic Forum expects demand for road freight will triple by 2050. 

Electric trucks do have a climate impact from the mining and manufacturing processes required to build them. The source of electricity that powers them—whether renewable or fossil fuels—also matters. Even so, battery-electric trucks operating in Europe today reduce emissions on average by 63% compared with diesel trucks, according to an analysis by the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation. 

To mitigate climate change, the ICCT has said that all of the world’s major markets need to fully transition to selling only zero-emission trucks by 2040. Last year, about 90,000 electric trucks were sold globally; electric models accounted for less than 2.5 percent of total truck sales in the year prior. But market forces seem poised to accelerate this transition, and Traton is a small but growing player. 

Today, China leads the world in electric truck production and sales. In Europe, though, sales are expected to tick up as the EU requires manufacturers of heavy-duty rigs to slash CO2 emissions from their fleets by 90% by 2040, with progressive targets leading up to that level—the first of which kicked in as of July. 

Caveats

It’s early days for electric trucking, as supply chains and charging infrastructure are built out. A large electric truck requires four to six times as many battery packs as an electric car, and securing enough batteries has proven particularly difficult for many EV firms based outside of China, where most batteries are produced. 

To mitigate this risk, Traton is building its own battery production, starting with facilities in Södertälje, Sweden and Nuremberg, Germany—with plans to make 50,000 battery packs a year, which could power about 10,000 heavy-duty trucks. (The company declined to say what proportion of the batteries currently used in its trucks comes from China.) 

The company’s International brand, which operates in the US, could be hit by tariffs and see demand drop as the Trump administration moves to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles. 

No matter what, the competition will be fierce—every major European truck manufacturer offers electric models now, and Chinese firms have already expanded internationally and built a strong customer base in markets like South America through sales of electric buses. 

Next steps

For now, MAN is working toward its goal of delivering 1,000 electric trucks from its new manufacturing line by the year’s end. Looking ahead, Scania aims to begin selling its first heavy-duty truck compatible with megawatt chargers in February, with deliveries to follow later in the year. Through Milence, megawatt chargers are now available at three sites, in Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and will soon be installed at five more.