Recent releases by Ryder System and Knight-Swift highlight the growing awareness of the added costs required for fleets that face increased pressure to transition to electric vehicles. A major challenge for long-haul trucking is cost, and current incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act only cover up to a maximum of $40,000 for commercial clean vehicles weighing over 14,000 pounds. A new Class 8 battery electric vehicle is significantly more expensive.
For Knight-Swift, the added cost puts the vehicles beyond profitability. The company said in a recent SEC filing, “There currently is an approximately $200,000-$300,000 new equipment cost differential between an internal combustion engine Class 8 tractor (a tractor weighing over 33,000 lbs., which comprise the majority of our fleet), and an EV alternative.
