As Qu Shaolong pulls his electric truck into one of the many charging stations that dot the Chinese coal hub of Yulin, the latest phase in the country’s energy transition is playing out in real time.
The roads in this part of Shaanxi province are filled with big rigs ferrying coal from mine
s to railheads. More and more of them are, like Qu’s, battery-operated, allowing truck owners to avoid diesel prices that have climbed steadily this year. The shift is changing China’s energy landscape.
“I don’t think anyone will switch back to diesel trucks,” said the 39-year-old, who has spent the last three years behind the wheel of an electrified hauler. “Nobody wants to return to a last-generation technology.”
Qu is one of thousands of drivers powering a profound shift in the world’s biggest oil import market. Chinese e-truck sales jumped almost 80% in the first hal
f from a year earlier, according to BloombergNEF, getting a boost as the US-Iran war and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries sent diesel prices soaring. They are on pac
e to account for close to a third of all rigs sold this year, up from just 8% a couple of years ago.
Diesel consumption in China will drop more than 10% this year, Sinopec Economics & Development Research Institute estimates, a shift that has helped Beij
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ing navigate this year’s oil shock and limited price rises for global markets in turn — all while cutting emissions, even if coal still plays a major role in electricity generation.
The electrification of road freight is emerging as a structural force that could undermine long-term oil demand across the world.
E-trucks look similar to diesel-powered rigs, apart from a large rectangular slab betwee
n the cabin and the trailer that houses the battery cells. When they start though, the roar of a combustion engine is replaced with the high-pitched whine of an electric motor and puffs from the hydraulic system.
The other major difference is economic. Li Bao, another driver in Yulin, said it costs about 200 yuan ($30) to recharge his truck, or less than a third of what he used to pay to fill his rig up with diesel. That’s offset by higher upfront co
sts to buy an e-rig. An electric heavy-duty truck will set you back about 600,000 yuan, compared with about 400,000 yuan for a similar-sized diesel model, according to an estimate by Chinese industry consultant SCI99.
