High diesel prices are bringing shippers back to electric trucks, Einride's CEO says
Einride says its sales pipeline tripled in the first half of 2026. US on-highway diesel averaged $6.13 a gallon on 9 November, $2.29 more than a year earlier, according to the EIA.
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Expensive diesel is pushing more freight shippers to look at electric trucks, according to Roozbeh Charli, chief executive of the electric and autonomous freight company Einride. "A lot of those customers are coming back now," he told InsideEVs in an interview published on Saturday.
How expensive diesel is
The US average on-highway diesel price was $6.127 a gallon on 9 November, according to the Energy Information Administration. That was 16.5 cents lower than a week earlier but $2.29 higher than a year before. California averaged $7.90.
What Einride is seeing
Einride sells electric freight services and software. It told InsideEVs that its sales pipeline tripled year over year in the first half of 2026 and that its conversion rate doubled over the same period. Those are company figures.
Charli said the price pain widens the range of jobs where electric trucks can match or beat diesel on cost, typically "middle-mile" routes of roughly 100 to 200 miles with high utilisation. He added that diesel's swings are making some companies realise how exposed they are to fuel prices.
InsideEVs points to other signs of demand, including a September order by a coalition of shippers including PepsiCo for 2,500 electric trucks, and Einride's August plan to deploy 500 Tesla Semis for Amazon and other North American customers. Charli described the Semi as a big step up in range, performance and price for electric truck hardware in the US.
Our read
Analysis: electric trucks still usually cost more to buy than diesel ones, so high and volatile fuel prices do much of the selling. If diesel keeps easing from its peak, the test will be whether those new conversations turn into signed contracts.