Social, technological, and economic barriers to heavy-duty truck electrification

Abstract

This paper uses data from 28 semi-structured interviews with decision-makers in commercial and public fleets operating heavy-duty trucks in California to explore perceived barriers to their adoption of electric trucks. The sample includes fleets with experience operating electric trucks and those without. The interviews explore perceived barriers both to the continued use of and increasing number of electric trucks within a fleet as well as the initial introduction of electric trucks into a fleet. We identify these barriers, define them, and categorize them as technological, economic, social, techno-economic, socio-economic, and socio-technological. The results explore fleet operators' understanding of, and preferences towards heavy-duty truck electrification. Fleet decision-makers descriptions, and our categorization of those descriptions, suggest strategies to reduce or overcome the barriers to adoption of heavy-duty electric trucks.