Chinese firms take on EV truck challenges [Video]

Dominant in the electric car sector, Chinese companies have been quietly consolidating their position in the lesser-watched trucking scene — but foreign tariffs and a perceived quality gap could signal roadblocks ahead, experts warn.

The domestic supply chain and low-price strategy that helped make China’s EV car industry world-leading are being leveraged by established automakers and start-ups alike, aiming to similarly transform trucking.

Electric trucks currently represent less than one percent of truck sales worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) — with China making up 70 percent of those sales in 2023.

But the agency said it was “optimistic” policy and technology developments would see more widespread adoption in the next 10 years.

“This industry, I believe, is ripe for disruption,” Han Wen, the founder of start-up Windrose, told AFP on a factory floor as the company’s first vehicles for delivery were assembled behind him.

Fleets of electric …