Australia’s fleet of zero and low emission heavy vehicles is growing, but new data highlighted in the Productivity Commission’s Impacts of heavy vehicle reform report shows the transition is progressing at very different speeds across buses, rigid trucks, articulated trucks and hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The figures provide a useful picture of how quickly alternative powertrains are beginning to appear in the Australian heavy vehicle fleet, although they also show that the transition is occurring at very different speeds across vehicle types.
By the fourth quarter of 2025, there were 341 electric rigid trucks and 67 electric articulated trucks registered in Australia, giving a combined electric truck fleet of 408 vehicles.
That compares with just 41 electric trucks in the first quarter of 2021, comprising 39 rigid trucks and two articulated trucks.
Over that period, the registered electric truck fleet increased by almost 900 per cent.
Electric truck fleet grew 50 per cent in 2025
The pace of growth accelerated during 2025.
At the end of 2024, Australia had 245 electric rigid trucks and 27 electric articulated trucks registered, for a combined total of 272.
By the fourth quarter of 2025, that had increased to 408 — a 50 per cent increase in 12 months.
Rigid trucks continue to account for the majority of the battery-electric truck fleet.
Electric rigid truck registrations increased from 245 at the end of 2024 to 341 at the end of 2025, an increase of approximately 39 per cent.
The smaller articulated truck segment grew much more quickly, rising from 27 to 67 vehicles over the same period.
That represents an increase of approximately 148 per cent in one year, albeit from a relatively small base.
Articulated electric trucks represented around 16 per cent of the registered electric truck fleet by the end of 2025, compared with less than 10 per cent a year earlier.
Rigid trucks have led the transition
The registration figures show that rigid trucks have been the main entry point for battery-electric technology in Australia.
There were 39 electric rigid trucks registered in Q1 2021. The total increased gradually through 2021 and 2022 before growth began accelerating.
By the end of 2022 there were 88 registered electric rigid trucks.
That increased to 149 by the end of 2023, 245 at the end of 2024 and 341 by the end of 2025.
The pattern reflects the broader suitability of current battery-electric technology for applications where trucks return regularly to a depot and operate predictable daily distances.
The registration data itself does not identify vehicle applications, duty cycles or operators, so it cannot show which sectors are driving the increase.
Articulated electric trucks beginning to appear
Electric articulated trucks remained extremely rare during the first years covered by the data.
There were only two registered in Q1 2021 and three at the beginning of 2022.
The number reached nine in Q1 2023 before climbing steadily to 14 by the end of that year and 27 by the end of 2024.
Growth became much more noticeable during 2025.
Registrations increased from 37 in Q1 to 44 in Q2 and then jumped to 66 in Q3. The year finished with 67 electric articulated trucks registered.
While that remains a very small number compared with Australia’s overall prime mover fleet, the direction of travel is clear.
It will be an important segment to watch as vehicle availability expands and governments consider reforms covering axle mass, gross vehicle mass, charging infrastructure and road access for heavier battery-electric combinations.
Hydrogen heavy vehicle numbers have not followed the same trajectory
Hydrogen heavy vehicles present a contrasting picture.
There were 28 hydrogen heavy vehicles registered in Q1 2021.
Rather than increasing, the registered fleet gradually declined, falling to 25 by the end of 2022 and 20 by the end of 2023.
There was a modest recovery during 2024, reaching 23 vehicles by Q4.
That figure remained at 23 at the end of 2025.
Compared with Q1 2021, the number of registered hydrogen heavy vehicles was around 18 per cent lower by Q4 2025.
The data therefore shows a significant divergence between battery-electric and hydrogen adoption.
By the end of 2025, electric rigid and articulated trucks combined accounted for about 95 per cent of the 431 electric and hydrogen trucks represented in these categories.
Electric buses growing even faster
The strongest growth in the dataset has occurred in buses.
Australia had 36 electric buses registered in Q1 2021. That figure passed 100 later that year and reached 181 by the end of 2022.
Registrations then increased to 337 at the end of 2023 and 605 by the end of 2024.
By Q4 2025, there were 946 electric buses registered.
That represents an increase of more than 2,500 per cent from Q1 2021 and a 56 per cent increase during 2025 alone.
Electric buses therefore substantially outnumber electric trucks and provide an indication of what can happen when vehicle technology, predictable operating patterns and fleet replacement programs align.
Registrations show transition gathering pace
The figures highlight how quickly the Australian heavy vehicle market has changed in a relatively short period.
At the beginning of 2021, the dataset recorded 41 electric trucks. By the end of 2025 there were 408.
The next phase will depend on whether that growth can extend beyond the applications best suited to current electric trucks and into higher-mass, longer-distance and more demanding freight operations.
Recent debate around heavy vehicle productivity reform is therefore particularly relevant.
Industry bodies have argued that electric trucks need appropriate mass allowances, road access, charging infrastructure and delivery rules if operators are to adopt them without sacrificing payload or productivity.
The registration figures suggest that battery-electric heavy vehicles are no longer simply demonstration vehicles on the fringes of the Australian market.
They remain a small part of the overall heavy vehicle fleet, but the rate of growth — particularly during 2025 — shows that their presence is becoming increasingly significant.
