BEIJING
\nChina\u2019s exports of electric trucks to other Asian countries have spiked, adding to a surge in domestic sales as higher fuel costs as a result of the Iran war accelerate regional electrification. China\u2019s rapid adoption of e-trucks \u2014 from lighter vehicles to tractor-trailers \u2014 has partially shielded the world\u2019s biggest auto market from the impact of the conflict. Now other countries are scrambling to follow.
\nIn the four months after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on February 28, China\u2019s exports of heavy e-trucks more than doubled from the same period last year to 16,823 vehicles. Half went to South and Southeast Asia, with shipments to South Asia up more than fivefold and to Southeast Asia nearly tripling.
\nSouth and Southeast Asia are particularly dependent on the Middle East for oil, and Iran\u2019s \u200cclosure of the \u200cStrait of Hormuz has triggered some of the biggest jumps in diesel prices, according to \u200cGlobalPetrolPrices.com, creating an opening for China, the world\u2019s largest e-truck maker.
\nDiesel prices are up 48% in Sri Lanka since the start of the war and 57% in the Philippines, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com, while the fuel is 15% higher in China, government data shows. \u201cThe war has opened the door to these new markets,\u201d said Zhaoting Yue, vice president of international marketing at Sany, the world\u2019s biggest maker of electric heavy trucks.
\nExports remain relatively small, dwarfed by China\u2019s exports of cars and bikes, while regional truck fleets number in the millions. But if growth is sustained and follows a similar arc to e-truck adoption in China, it could make a notable dent in diesel consumption and carbon emissions.
\nE-trucks in China have gone from almost zero in 2021 \u200cto 30% of truck sales last year, with 140,000 e-trucks sold in \u200cthe first half of this year. Diesel use in China began falling last year. Sany previously focused on Europe but is pivoting to Southeast Asia \u200cand developing cheaper models, Yue told Reuters. In June, the company shipped its largest single order \u2014 880 heavy trucks \u2014 \u200che said, declining to say where because the contract was private.
\n\u201cBefore oil prices rose, buyers in these countries might have needed 28 months to recoup their investment in an electric heavy truck,\u201d Yue said. \u201cNow, it takes only 18 months.\u201d Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday came to the defence of two government officials who drew flak after a video of them riding in a horse carriage during an Independence Day parade in Islamabad went viral on social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING China\u2019s exports of electric trucks to other Asian countries have spiked, adding to a surge in domestic sales as higher fuel costs as a result of the Iran war accelerate regional electrification. China\u2019s rapid adoption of e-trucks \u2014 from lighter vehicles to tractor-trailers \u2014 has partially shielded the world\u2019s biggest auto market from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-562344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n