HANNOVER, Germany — Daimler Truck laid out what it says Europe wants to maneuver battery-electric and hydrogen vehicles from early adopters into mainstream fleets. It contains public megawatt chargers, hydrogen stations constructed for vehicles and street tolls that reward zero-emission autos. CEO Karin Rådström made the case on the firm’s Media Evening in Hanover, Germany, forward of IAA Transportation 2026.
Mercedes-Benz Vans held about 38% of Europe’s marketplace for domestically CO2-free medium- and heavy-duty vehicles within the first half of 2026, and clients have pushed the eActros 600 greater than 160 million kilometers since collection manufacturing started on the finish of 2024, the corporate mentioned.
“At the moment, there are over 60 electrical or zero-emission vehicles accessible available in the market, and over 25 totally different zero-emission bus fashions from us and from our opponents,” Rådström mentioned. “So our trade has clearly delivered.”
Heavy-duty battery-electric vehicles took 2% of Europe’s market in 2025, in line with Daimler Truck, which estimates about 35% of latest vehicles would wish to run on batteries or hydrogen by 2030 to satisfy EU CO2 targets. The European Vehicle Producers’ Affiliation’s full-year 2025 business automobile registration information, launched Jan. 29, put all electrically chargeable vehicles above 3.5 tonnes at 4.2% of the EU market, up from 2.3% a 12 months earlier.
Prospects maintain again for 2 causes, Rådström mentioned: infrastructure and price parity with diesel.
Chargers, hydrogen stations and tolls
Europe has fewer than 2,000 public truck cost factors at the moment, most of them commonplace CCS chargers, Rådström mentioned. By 2030, she mentioned, it wants 35,000 megawatt charging factors to help the battery-electric vehicles the CO2 targets require.
Europe has round 187 hydrogen stations, most supplying solely 350 bar, which Rådström mentioned shouldn’t be appropriate for vehicles. She mentioned Europe wants 1,000 by 2030.
On value, Rådström pointed to CO2-based street tolls. In Germany, the toll distinction between a diesel truck and an electrical truck comes out to about 33 to 35 cents per kilometer, which she mentioned helps offset the upper funding value. Solely 13 of the EU’s 27 member states have adopted CO2-based tolls, she mentioned, and fewer than a handful of these set a significant hole between electrical and diesel.
What Dachser sees in its community
Stefan Hohm, chief improvement officer at Dachser, the German logistics supplier, mentioned on stage that the corporate has 25 emission-free supply areas in Europe and greater than 200 battery-electric vehicles on the street, together with greater than 160 Mercedes-Benz Actros fashions.
“We’re proud to have greater than 200 battery-electric vehicles on the street, however the reality is we run greater than 15,000,” Hohm mentioned. “So that is solely a starting. And financing the primary era of battery-electric autos stays the primary hurdle for our transport companions.”
Hohm known as grid entry and capability the primary ache level. A Dachser community research discovered virtually all of its 300 European branches have entry to 1 to three megawatts of grid capability, he mentioned, and in Germany the corporate offers with 800 power suppliers. He needs clear timelines and binding commitments from them.
Toll gaps between diesel and electrical vehicles range by nation: virtually 33 cents per kilometer in Germany, nothing in France and virtually €1 in Switzerland, Hohm mentioned. He needs a steady framework that holds for no less than 5 to 6 years.
Dachser has constructed greater than 800 charging stations by itself yards, and Hohm mentioned depot charging works finest. He mentioned Dachser nonetheless wants public and semi-public charging alongside European corridors, at steady costs.
“In case you have your personal tariff within the depot, it typically actually messes up the enterprise case if you need to pay greater than double if you find yourself charging publicly,” he mentioned.
Lowliner and NextGenH2 timelines
The eActros Lowliner, a battery-electric tractor with a low fifth-wheel top for high-volume mega trailers, opened for orders Sept. 15, with collection manufacturing on the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth, Germany, set for the second quarter of 2027. The three-battery model gives round 500 kilometers of vary at full load, and megawatt charging arriving within the second half of 2027 will take it from 10% to 80% in below half-hour, the corporate mentioned.
On hydrogen, a small collection of 100 Mercedes-Benz NextGenH2 fuel-cell vehicles enters buyer operations from the tip of 2026, with Dachser as the primary buyer. Hohm mentioned the primary truck will run two shifts out of Malsch, close to Karlsruhe, with a goal of 220,000 kilometers a 12 months.
The regulatory evaluation
Daimler Truck is asking the EU for an early evaluation of its heavy-duty CO2 regulation, with the 2030 goal tied to infrastructure rollout and clients’ whole value of possession. That focus on requires a 43% minimize in CO2 emissions from new heavy-duty autos in contrast with 2019, and the Council of the EU adopted a short lived flexibility on March 30 that lets producers accumulate credit from 2025 via 2029 by beating their very own annual targets. The identical launch mentioned the core guidelines are due for revision in 2027.
The corporate places the price of falling quick at about €120 million in penalties for every share level Mercedes-Benz Vans misses. Rådström mentioned a 10-point miss “successfully would wipe out the total profitability globally of Mercedes-Benz Vans for that 12 months.”
An eActros 600 world tour
Tobias Wagner, an expert driver and content material creator often known as the “Elektrotrucker,” is taking an eActros 600 about 45,000 kilometers via round 30 nations over so long as a 12 months, with not more than 80 charging stops.
“Success for me could be that the dialog shifts — that we’re not speaking about if these vehicles work, as a result of they do, I present it each day — however extra to: okay, it’s working, however what do we have to do as a subsequent step with the intention to construct the ecosystem round these electrical vehicles?” Wagner mentioned.
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