Electric truck or diesel: which is cheaper, country by country?
Pick an electric truck. For eleven European countries this page works out how much more it costs to lease than a diesel tractor, the most a kWh may cost for it to be cheaper than diesel, before and after the Iran war, and what the road tolls change. It uses this site’s own figures: this week’s diesel price, VAT back, the professional diesel refund, the power price at a depot, and the tolls an electric truck pays less of, or none at all.
In short: the Tesla Semi
Calculating…
Fetching this week’s diesel prices and running the business case for eleven countries…
1The truck: what the lease costs
A lease over a fixed term, with a value left at the end. A transport company gets the VAT on the truck back, so the amount financed is simply the price without VAT.
| Diesel tractor | Tesla Semi |
|---|
2What the truck itself costs per kilometre
Only the lease of the truck, without fuel, toll or maintenance. The lease is a fixed amount per month, so the more kilometres the truck drives, the less of its price each kilometre carries. The last column is the extra the electric truck costs per kilometre: that is what its cheaper energy and lower toll have to earn back (sections 4 and 5).
| Kilometres a year | Diesel truck: lease per km | Electric truck: lease per km | Extra lease per km for the electric truck |
|---|
3Diesel before and after the Iran war
When the war with Iran began, early in March 2026, oil and diesel shot up worldwide; in Europe diesel reached a record in September 2026. The Commission’s weekly bulletin, at the pump: “before” is the week of 23 February 2026, the last full week before the war pushed prices up. What a transport company really pays is less: the VAT comes back, and Belgium and France refund part of the excise. Switzerland is not in the bulletin; its “before” is the Touring Club Schweiz average of 26 February 2026, CHF 1.79 a litre, converted at the same rate as today’s Swiss price.
| Country | Pump, before | Pump, now | Change | Net to a haulier, before | Net to a haulier, now |
|---|
4The most a kWh may cost
The key question: once the diesel saved has paid for the more expensive truck, how much is left for electricity? We take litres of diesel per 100 km and kWh per km for the electric truck, the business case’s own figures. The first two columns count the truck and the fuel only. The third also counts the toll the electric truck does not pay.
| Country | Break-even, before the Iran war | Break-even, now | Break-even now, tolls counted | What a depot pays | Before the Iran war | Now, tolls counted |
|---|
cheaper than dieselalmost (within 20%)more expensive than diesel
Break-even is the most a kWh may cost for the Tesla Semi to cost no more than the diesel tractor: counting the truck and the fuel, and in the third column also the toll the electric truck does not pay. If a depot pays less than that, the electric truck is the cheaper one. Depot power is our planning price for a transport company in each country, all charges included, without VAT. A public truck charger costs more: .
5Kilometres make the biggest difference
The same break-even price per kWh, now and with tolls counted, if the truck drives less or more each year.
| Country | Depot power |
|---|
6The whole business case, per country
Truck, charging, maintenance, tolls, the chargers at the depot and the value at the end, over five years at 120,000 km a year, with the business case’s careful defaults and this week’s diesel price. This uses the site’s price for the truck, not the slider above. Open any country to change the assumptions.
| Country | Toll saved per km | Net result per truck, 5 years | Pays back in |
|---|
7Every truck in every country
The full business case over five years, per truck, for all twenty electric trucks: the net result in thousands of euros against a diesel tractor. Green is cheaper than diesel, red more expensive. Switch between today, with the tolls an electric truck saves, and the situation before the Iran war (diesel of February 2026) without any toll advantage. Click a truck to see its sums above. Which trucks pass the test without the war and without toll breaks is worked out on the stress test.
8Maintenance, tyres and insurance
An electric truck needs less maintenance, but its tyres can wear faster and insuring it is often more expensive. The ICCT puts the maintenance of an electric tractor-trailer at about €13 per 100 km against €18.50 for a diesel; the business case counts that. Insurance for an electric truck is often more expensive (see insurance); no European insurer publishes by how much.
9What it means
Sources
- The lease method and its starting terms (5 years, 8%, 25% left at the end): Jason Roycht (Meridius Consulting), LinkedIn, spring 2026.
- Diesel: European Commission, Weekly Oil Bulletin, live and price history; VAT and refunds as on diesel prices.
- Price of the Tesla Semi:
- Power prices, tolls and everything in section 6: the business case and its data, per country.
- Maintenance: ICCT, November 2021.