ZEHID 2026: We know electric HGVs work. Now we need to make the transition work commercially.
Shape Tomorrow | Industry Insights | October 2026
The first annual report from the UK’s Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme has landed, and it provides some important insights into where we are on the road to electrifying heavy goods vehicles.
Funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the programme is helping to establish the evidence needed to accelerate the transition to zero-emission road freight.
The headline? Progress is happening. But the challenge is increasingly about the ecosystem surrounding the vehicle, rather than the vehicle itself.
For Shape Tomorrow, this reinforces something we have been discussing with cargo owners, hauliers, infrastructure providers and technology partners for some time.
We cannot electrify road freight in isolation. And we certainly cannot expect individual operators to solve an industry-wide infrastructure challenge on their own.
What does the report tell us?
Several findings stand out:
- More than 240 electric HGVs and 40 charging sites delivered across the three continuing electric-focused projects during the reporting period.
- Electric HGVs cost approximately 2.7 times more to purchase than comparable diesel vehicles, although they offer at least twice the energy efficiency.
- Utilisation remains a challenge, with early programme data showing electric HGVs travelling approximately 1,350 km per week compared with around 2,600 km for a sample of diesel vehicles. These are not necessarily like-for-like operations, but the figures raise important commercial questions.
- Grid connections remain a critical barrier, with one proposed site facing an estimated five-year connection delay.
- Driver feedback is encouraging, with positive experiences around vehicle performance, comfort and reduced noise.
These are early findings, not a final verdict on the technology. Nevertheless, they give us a clearer picture of where industry collaboration and investment are needed.
Kelly Hobson’s perspective: It’s time to move beyond proving the technology
Kelly Hobson, Founder and Managing Director, Shape Tomorrow
“We’ve spent years asking whether electric HGVs can work. The evidence is increasingly telling us they can. But that doesn’t automatically mean the commercial model works for every operator, on every route, at today’s electricity prices.
For me, the more important question is how we create an operating environment that makes electrification commercially viable and accessible to a much wider proportion of the market.
We need to stop looking at vehicles, infrastructure, energy, procurement and driver wellbeing as separate conversations.
If an operator cannot access competitively priced electricity, suitable charging infrastructure or sufficient contracted volumes to utilise an electric truck effectively, the economics quickly become difficult.
And if we leave every haulier to navigate those challenges independently, particularly smaller operators, we’re going to slow the transition and potentially create a market where only the largest fleets can participate.
The next phase needs to be about connecting demand, supply and infrastructure, and creating commercially viable solutions that can scale.
That’s where I believe the UK has a genuine opportunity to lead.”
Five conversations we need to accelerate
- Infrastructure needs to follow demand, not assumptions
We need a more coordinated approach to understanding where freight moves today, where electric vehicle demand is likely to develop and how existing and planned infrastructure can support it.
That means bringing cargo owners, hauliers, energy providers, charging operators and technology platforms into the same conversation.
Could shared infrastructure become a more commercially viable option than every fleet developing its own charging facilities?
How do we ensure smaller operators can access that infrastructure at a competitive price?
And how do we prevent investment in locations that don’t align with actual freight movements?
- Procurement needs to become part of the solution
Cargo owners have a significant role to play.
If we know that the transition requires longer-term investment, greater utilisation and more predictable demand, we need to reconsider how road freight is procured.
Could longer-term commitments, shared volumes and more collaborative contracting approaches help unlock investment?
This is not simply a sustainability discussion. It is about future capacity, resilience, cost predictability and building stronger supplier relationships.
- Electricity cost is becoming a strategic logistics consideration
The cost of electricity can fundamentally change the commercial viability of electric freight.
Access to competitively priced energy, whether through depot charging, shared infrastructure or public networks, will influence which routes and operators can transition first.
We need greater visibility of charging locations, pricing, availability and contractual access.
And critically, we need to consider how these services integrate into the systems hauliers already use to plan and manage their operations.
- Driver wellbeing must be designed into infrastructure
One of the encouraging findings from ZEHID is the positive feedback from drivers using electric HGVs.
But the wider transition creates an opportunity to rethink the facilities available to drivers.
As charging infrastructure develops, we should be considering safe parking, appropriate rest facilities, access to food, welfare amenities and the practical realities of drivers’ working days.
Why not use this investment cycle to establish a better standard for driver wellbeing across the UK’s freight infrastructure?
That would be a meaningful legacy of the transition, extending well beyond emissions reduction.
- We need to move from demonstration projects to scalable commercial models
Government-funded demonstrations have an essential role in reducing uncertainty, supporting early adopters and building evidence.
But the longer-term objective must be to create an environment where the business case increasingly stands without ongoing subsidy.
That requires us to understand which interventions unlock commercial viability, how risks can be shared and how successful models can be replicated.
The learning from ZEHID should become the foundation for wider industry action, rather than remaining within individual projects.
Bringing these discussions to Sustainable Logistics LIVE London
On 10 November 2026, Shape Tomorrow will bring cargo owners, hauliers, technology providers, infrastructure specialists, trade associations and academia together at Sustainable Logistics LIVE London.
The findings from ZEHID couldn’t be more relevant to the conversations we’re preparing to have.
Our discussions will explore:
- HGV electrification in 2027: What does commercial readiness really look like, and where can operators activate now?
- Procurement as a strategic enabler: How can cargo owners create the conditions for greater adoption of lower-emission freight?
- Turning theory into practice: How do we move from successful pilots to commercially sustainable operations?
- Leading change: How do we bring people, systems and organisations together to navigate a complex industry transition?
We’re also facilitating closed discussions between enterprise cargo owners and hauliers already operating electric HGVs, exploring the practical realities of procuring electric road freight during this transition period.
These conversations matter because the commercial challenges identified by ZEHID cannot be solved by one stakeholder group.
From conversation to activation: Freight Connect Programme
The report also reinforces the thinking behind Shape Tomorrow’s developing Freight Connect Programme, with Phase 1 focused on the UK from 2027 and a longer-term ambition to establish a blueprint that can support European markets.
Our ambition is to connect freight demand, transport capacity, infrastructure, energy and technology in a more coordinated way.
This includes exploring how existing charging assets can become more accessible, how future infrastructure investment can better reflect freight demand, how hauliers can access commercially viable opportunities and how driver facilities can be considered within a more consistent infrastructure standard.
Shape Tomorrow’s role is to act as a neutral ecosystem accelerator, bringing together the stakeholders, practical learning and technology-enabled connections needed to move from individual initiatives towards coordinated industry progress.
We believe there is an opportunity for the UK to set a precedent for how a connected, commercially focused approach to electric freight infrastructure could work.
The Shape Tomorrow takeaway
ZEHID is providing the industry with valuable evidence. The next challenge is how we collectively use it.
We don’t need every haulier to become an infrastructure developer. We don’t need every cargo owner to solve electrification independently. And we shouldn’t expect technology alone to overcome fragmented commercial models.
We need more joined-up thinking, greater transparency, stronger collaboration and a clearer understanding of what commercially viable electrification looks like across different freight operations.
The question for 2027 shouldn’t simply be how many electric HGVs we can put on the road. It should be how we create the conditions for many more operators to make that transition successfully.
That’s a conversation worth having and more importantly, one worth acting on.
Join the discussion at Sustainable Logistics LIVE London, 10 November 2026.
Source: WSP (2026), Zero Emission HGVs and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) Annual Report 2026.