Heavy-duty truck electrification for clean transport: A comprehensive and systematic literature review

Review article, 2026

Heavy-duty trucks are major contributors in NOx and PM2.5 emissions in the transportation sector. Many countries are seriously considering electrification as a pathway towards cleaner freight transport. The advancement of diverse technological solutions has created multiple pathways towards the decarbonisation of heavy-duty trucks, among which battery-electric heavy-duty trucks remain in the early stages of development. This paper presents a comprehensive and systematic review of their electrification from technological, economic, and social perspectives, covering battery installation approaches, electricity refuelling solutions (e.g., charging, battery swapping, wireless charging), and typical application scenarios for short- and long-haul trucking. Key issues including electricity demand, operation scheduling, total cost of ownership, and greenhouse gas emissions are discussed, followed by an identification of current research gaps in empirical data and an examination of grid integration challenges and opportunities across different technology pathways.