Medium and heavy-duty battery electric trucks  are starting to take off in various parts of the world, including North America and Europe. However, in 2022 one country dominated sales rankings: China.

With the number of battery electric trucks registered in China as high as 24,075, compared with only 7,965 for the rest of the world combined (equaling total registrations of 32,040 for the year), it should come as no surprise that 9 of the top 10 truck manufacturers are from China. Sany is the leader with 13% market share, driven by strong sales of battery electric semi-trailers and concrete mixer trucks. In 2022, total BEV medium and heavy-truck sales in China were more than double those of 2021. Promotion of battery-swapping models favored the sales of BEV heavy-duty trucks, which accounted for 51% of total BEV heavy and medium-duty trucks. Geely, XCMG, SAIC Motor and Sany were among major suppliers of battery-swapping battery electric heavy-duty trucks.

Medium and heavy-duty truck battery electric market share

We were somewhat surprised that BYD falls outside of the top ten list. Internationally, it has more truck sales than other Chinese companies, but its home sales fall below those of other competitors, according to official statistics and our research.

For now, Chinese companies are mainly selling domestically. We have not found comprehensive data for Chinese company export sales by manufacturer, but about 98% of their BEV medium and heavy-duty truck sales are within China and 2% internationally. While some companies such as BYD have stronger international sales, others have none at all.

Volvo is the only non-Chinese company to feature on the list – for now. Western (and Korean, and perhaps also Japanese) manufacturers will offer many more BEV models in the next few years. Sales from non-Chinese manufacturers will likely start catching up over the next few years, with more entries in the top 10.

Hyundai is one such contender, and Mitsubishi, Navistar and Tesla could also appear in the top 10 rankings in the future. Indeed, we have forecast that this market could increase 5x to over 150,000 in , with the share of BEV medium and heavy-duty trucks registered in China falling from 74% in 2022 to 45% in 2024.

Another consideration here is that Chinese manufacturers are extremely likely over time to make more efforts to sell abroad. While geopolitical issues, the Inflation Reduction Act and other Government legislation may make the US a tricky target market, there are many markets that are much more open to Chinese electric vehicles, especially at competitive prices, such as Europe and Latin America. So while 2024 will see a more mixed picture, China is likely to continue to be the strongest country in the BEV medium and heavy-duty truck global market share rankings.