The Chinese government has set a new sales target for new energy heavy trucks in the country, as it looks to speed up the transition to zero-emission vehicles in the long-haul transportation industry. Heavy trucks, while accounting for a small proportion of the country’s vehicle fleet in terms of volumes, account for a disproportionately large proportion of total vehicle emissions.

A plan jointly released by the Ministry of Transport and other government departments calls for NEVs, which include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and other zero-emission vehicles such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs), to account for 40% of total heavy-duty truck sales in the country by 2030.

If the target is achieved, NEV sales will account for 20% of the country’s heavy-duty truck fleet by the end of the decade, or some 1.6 million vehicles.

To help facilitate the transition, the Ministry of Transport’s Transport Planning and Research Institute is drawing up plans to establish an integrated transportation network linking vehicles with dedicated long-haul transportation routes and refueling/recharging stations, with the aim of eliminating bottlenecks and enabling large-scale commercial operations.

The government is reported to have so far built a 30,000 km network of “zero-carbon” corridors on national highways and expressways linking major cities, along with 3,000 dedicated charging and battery swap stations, for the exclusive use of NEV heavy-duty trucks.