Electrifying long-haul freight trucks reduces societal costs in the United States.
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Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41387452.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-67161-1 and PMC identifier 12800144.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Electrifying long-haul heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) entails high private costs but offers substantial reductions in external costs by substituting diesel combustion with electricity generation. We combine technoeconomic analysis and life-cycle assessment of lithium-ion battery electric (BE) and diesel HDVs to estimate total private costs and monetized climate and health damages in the United States. In 2025, BE-HDVs are estimated to have 46% higher private costs ($0.71 mile⁻¹) than diesel trucks, decreasing to 33% ($0.52 mile⁻¹) by 2035. However, their external costs are 64-69% lower in 2025 and 70-80% lower in 2035. Overall, BE-HDVs yield positive net societal benefits by 2035, contingent on policies that accelerate their adoption.