Hitachi ZeroCarbon and GRIDSERVE have published the fourth report from the Electric Freightway project, revealing that a single electric heavy goods vehicle (eHGV) could cut approximately 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions by 2034 compared with a diesel equivalent – the same amount of CO₂ that would take 50,000 trees a year to absorb. The findings underscore the potential of electric trucks to play a central role in decarbonising UK road freight, drawing on insights from real-world operations across multiple fleets.
The Electric Freightway project forms part of the UK government’s Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. The initiative brings together more than 30 industry partners, led by GRIDSERVE, to accelerate the adoption of electric HGVs and support the development of nationwide charging infrastructure.
Progress in Deployment
According to the fourth report, eHGVs are now deployed across 25 hauliers, operating on real-world logistics routes across the UK. Participating fleets have collectively covered more than two million zero-emission kilometres, providing invaluable data on vehicle performance, operational efficiency and driver experience.
Image: Gridserve
The report highlights the evolving business case for electric freight, showing that eHGVs can achieve cost parity – and in some conditions, cost savings – particularly when fleets operate high annual mileage and optimise charging between depot and en-route infrastructure. In addition, drivers are reporting increasing confidence and satisfaction with vehicle performance and drivability once they gain hands-on experience with electric trucks.
Nick Day, Director of Distribution, UK at ADM Milling, shared his perspective: “As a business, we are constantly seeking more sustainable solutions to service our customers’ needs and have been exploring ways to improve energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions in our manufacturing processes for many years now.
“Using electric trucks was the natural next step in this process and so we started engaging with a third-party haulier to introduce electric trucks and charging solutions into our fleet and then expanded this capability through the ZEHID scheme.
“While we still have more work to do to fully embed eHGVs within our operation, we are encouraged by the progress we’ve made so far and the ZEHID project has been a great opportunity for us to gain hands-on experience operating them.”
Industry Collaboration and Future Plans
Leon Clarke, Head of Operations and Delivery at Hitachi ZeroCarbon, added: “Electric Freightway demonstrates what can be achieved when industry partners come together with a shared ambition to decarbonise road freight. The collaboration between hauliers, infrastructure providers and technology specialists has been key to getting electric trucks on the road and generating real-world insights that will help the industry achieve its long-term net zero goals.”
With the initial deployment phase complete, the project will now focus on collecting long-term operational data, refining charging strategies and supporting the transition to zero-emission freight transport across the UK. Insights from this work will help fleet operators, policymakers and industry stakeholders plan for scalable eHGV adoption and build the infrastructure needed to achieve sustainable logistics objectives.
Mike Biddle, Executive Director Net Zero at Innovate UK, said: “Electric Freightway, led by GRIDSERVE in collaboration with principal partner Hitachi ZeroCarbon, has been instrumental in supporting the early efforts towards UK road freight decarbonisation, facilitated through the UK government’s Zero Emission HGV & Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme. This report reflects on the project’s extensive findings as it moves beyond the earlier deployment efforts into large-scale data collection in real-world operations for the next five years.”
The Electric Freightway project illustrates the scale of emissions reductions achievable with electric HGVs and demonstrates that practical, zero-emission freight solutions are viable today. The project’s ongoing insights will be critical in informing policy, guiding infrastructure investment and helping the UK transport and logistics sector achieve its net zero targets.
GRIDSERVE is the lead partner among over 30 companies that have come together to further the transition to net zero transport.
