Octopus CEO Cites China’s 49-Ton Trucks in Case for European Electrification

Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson argued Europe's incumbents can slow electrification, citing 49-ton trucks he said he saw in China; electrically chargeable trucks made up 5.3% of new European Union (EU) truck registrations through September.

The EU registered 245,079 new trucks from January through September 2026, a 7.5% increase from the same period a year earlier. Registrations of electrically chargeable trucks rose 49.8%, while diesel trucks accounted for 91.7% of the total.

In an Oct. 30 interview, Jackson said seeing battery-powered trucks in China underscored the scale of electrification. “It’s only when you see 49-ton trucks in China running on batteries that you realize how serious electrification is,” he said.

Separately, two charging stations on China’s Ningbo-Yiwu heavy-truck route entered service in 2025. Plans call for 10 stations, including battery-swap sites designed to replace a truck’s 350-kilowatt-hour battery in five minutes. The planned network was intended to support an initial fleet of 300 pure-electric container trucks.

Truck and passenger-car registrations represent different vehicle segments. Battery-electric passenger cars accounted for 22.7% of EU registrations through September 2026, up from 16.1% a year earlier. TokenPost previously covered EU passenger-car registrations.