Smart Freight Centre and Catalyst Mobility (formerly CALSTART) are announcing that a coalition of the world’s largest cargo-owning shippers has enabled the largest electric truck order to date in the United States — 2,500 battery-electric Class 8 trucks— a single deal that nearly doubles the U.S. electric Class 8 fleet.
The order is organized through the Zero-Emission Truck Shipper-Carrier Alliance Leading Electrification (ZET SCALE), a program jointly operated by Catalyst Mobility and the Smart Freight Centre. By aggregating freight demand at a scale no single company could reach on its own, ZET SCALE is building a market for electric trucks that did not exist before. The Alliance’s ambition runs to 10,000 trucks and beyond.
The 2,500 Tesla semi trucks will be bought by 15 operators after the truck manufacturer won a competitive bidding process to provide the vehicles.
According to the Sunrise Project, the order shows the demand for electric trucks from businesses and operators amid skyrocketing diesel prices and will be a big boost to efforts to address deadly air pollution. The bulk procurement process organized by Smart Freight Center and Catalyst Mobility enabled the operators to use their purchasing power to buy the trucks at more competitive prices.
National Resource Defense Council
“Fleets are tired of the financial whiplash from unpredictable diesel prices, and the ZETScale announcement is a clear sign that buyers are ready to move,” said Guillermo Ortiz, senior clean vehicle advocate, NRDC. “This order is a massive wake-up call for the market. The buyers are here with real purchasing power, and legacy manufacturers need to read the room and step up before they lose their competitive edge. If the whole industry acts to realize this opportunity, we can secure American leadership in zero-emission freight and deliver the clean air our communities deserve.”
15 Major Shippers
The 2,500 electric trucks will be operated by participating carriers to fulfill aggregated demand from over 15 major shippers involved in the ZET SCALE Alliance. The overall 10,000 truck order will transform the landscape for electric trucks: last year, just 875 zero-emission heavy electric trucks were registered in the U.S., down from 1,103 in 2024.
All truck manufacturers offering Class 8 electric trucks in North America were invited to participate in the bidding process. Tesla was selected as the winner after truck makers were evaluated on price, range, charging capabilities, and production capacity.
A separate study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) found that electric trucks from legacy manufacturers cost more while delivering roughly half the range of the Tesla Semi Long Range. These advantages positioned Tesla as the strongest fit for the operators’ operational and commercial requirements. Tesla announced it will open its Nevada factory on Sept, 24, signaling momentum for electric trucks in the U.S.
Strategies Questions
“Investors this year questioned strategies by Daimler, Volvo Group and International Motors (owned by TRATON) aimed at stopping and delaying moves towards electric trucks, as seen in their lobbying and lawsuits,” Sunrise said. “Truck manufacturers have largely been ignoring the competitive risk: in their AGMs this year, both Traton and Daimler downplayed or refused to respond to questions about competitive risk of new entrants.”
According to Sunrise, while clean transport advocates welcome today’s order announcement, they warn that other truck manufacturers must step up to serve the needs of the trucking industry – or risk getting left behind. A recent ERM report found that for European manufacturers, non-component costs added to the final price are roughly twice as high as on non-electric models – a pricing model that is significantly constraining their addressable market.
“Having spent years working inside the industry to accelerate fleet electrification, seeing legacy manufacturers like Daimler backslide on their zero-emission commitments is both shocking and deeply disappointing,” said Rustam Kocher, industry consultant and formerly of Daimler Truck North America. “The market is moving to full electrification, with or without them. By ceding major bulk procurement wins and pivoting back to legacy diesel, Daimler is missing a monumental market opportunity and risking its competitive edge as the global shift toward electric transport accelerates.”
Pricing and Secrecy Problems
According to Sunrise, while electric truck prices remain too high, another major problem is secrecy on pricing which gives manufacturers another lever to manipulate the market. ICCT research reveals that despite battery costs dropping globally, the median price of Class 8 battery-electric tractors in the U.S. increased 27% since 2020. By keeping electric truck prices high and opaque legacy manufacturers are stifling demand while they continue to sell high margin diesel trucks. A new California bill – just signed by Governor Gavin Newsom – aims to tackle this issue by forcing manufacturers to disclose information on the price of vehicles as a condition of receiving state subsidies.
“California fleets are ready to go electric, and this landmark order proves the demand is undeniably there,” said Craig Segall former deputy executive officer and assistant chief counsel of the California Air Resources Board. “But to scale up, California needs truly affordable electric trucks. With SB 1213 encouraging price transparency from manufacturers, we can break through artificial markups and make zero-emission freight accessible to everyone.”
According to Sunrise, a recent report shows electric truck sales globally are surging, but that China accounts for 88%, raising concerns that the U.S. is lagging behind logistics technology and remaining bound to high costs for fuel and maintenance. In 2025 just 3.1% of heavy vehicle sales in the U.S. were electric – compared to 25% in China. The U.S. saw over 25,000 electric heavy vehicles sales last year while China had over 450,000 heavy electric vehicle sales.
Truck manufacturers: Lobbying and Lawsuits
According to Sunrise:
- Daimler, Volvo Group, Paccar and International Motors are suing California over an agreement to advance truck electrification goals.
- Their lobby group is intervening on the side of the Trump administration against a lawsuit aiming to protect the Endangerment Finding, a cornerstone policy that underpins U.S. law protecting health and the environment.
- Their lobby groups pressured Congress to kill U.S. rules on electric truck last year
- Truck manufacturers are also supporting the Trump administration’s efforts to unwind standards that would restrict the sale of dirtier diesel trucks that emit higher levels of nitrogen oxides. The CDC shows exposure can lead to respiratory illnesses, premature death and “toxic effects in developing fetuses”
- Daimler, Volvo Group and TRATON also lobbied the EU to weaken rules on CO2 emissions, which the EU member states signed off on and are pushing for further delay.
Truck Manufacturers: Broken Promises
According to Sunrise:
- Volvo Group has a 2040 net zero ambition but no longer references its earlier commitment to reach 50% electric truck sales by 2030. Despite a commitment to reach 50 percent zero-emission truck sales by 2030, Volvo Group last year only delivered 4,000 “zero or very low tailpipe emission” trucks, just 2% of total trucks delivered.
- Just 1.6% of the vehicles (6,726 units) Daimler Truck sold last year were “emission-free vehicles”, despite its stated target of 25,000 annual electric truck sales in Europe by 2030 and new truck sales to be carbon free in Europe, US and Japan by 2039. Daimler Truck’s CEO last year declared the manufacturer a “diesel champ” and unveiled a new strategy that pivots the manufacturers away from electric trucks.
- Just 1% of TRATON’S truck sales were electric in 2025 and International Motors has exited the heavy electric truck market altogether, killing an electric truck model in November that it had announced seven months previously.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
