With the energy crisis, it's too hard to get a lot of electric trucks on European freeways

Europe wants the industry to reduce CO2 emissions from new trucks by 30 percent by 2030, and most manufacturers are betting that batteries, rather than hydrogen fuel cells, will be the leading technology to achieve that goal. However, most European countries do not have similar measures in place, compared to the $40,000 subsidy the U.S. plans to offer to electric heavy-duty truck buyers.

Traton, a Volkswagen Group brand, has pledged to move half of the trucks it ships away from fossil fuels by 2030. Its Scania brand delivered an 80-ton electric truck this year to forestry company SCA, which is using it to transport timber in northern Sweden. Last week, Volvo began mass production of heavy-duty electric trucks and said it has sold more than 2,600 battery-powered trucks.

BloombergNEF analyst Solopoulos said, "For certain use cases, especially shorter urban distances, the total cost of ownership for battery-electric trucks could soon drop to the level of diesel vehicles."

Currently, major manufacturers have varying timetables for mass production of electric trucks, as they continue to struggle to increase capacity and obtain sufficient parts. Daimler's eActros won't be in volume production until 2024, and MAN's trucks won't be in production until 2025.

Nikola, which plans to unveil its fuel-cell Tre FCEV Beta at this week's auto show, has delivered only a few dozen trucks and may now be distracted by the criminal fraud trial of its founder, Trevor Milton. Tesla has delayed production of its electric truck Semi several times.

Volvo, Traton and Daimler plan to spend 500 million euros ($498 million) over the next five years to build at least 1,700 charging stations in Europe for heavy-duty electric vehicles. Daimler has also launched a similar project with U.S. firm BlackRock, an effort to improve batteries and speed up charging.

Europe needs a fairly dense network of high-speed truck charging to promote wider adoption of long-haul battery-driven electric trucks," said Romed Kelp, a partner at consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Suitable locations need to be identified first, but it's not clear that the energy infrastructure in some of these locations is ready to handle the surge in demand."