Reading time 6 min
20. March 2025
Heavy-duty electric trucks show impressive consumption figures on flat routes and under optimal conditions: with light goods, values of around 90 kWh per 100 kilometers can be achieved – that corresponds to around 9.2 liters of diesel. But the reality is often different. In this article, you will find out how much energy electric trucks actually consume in different applications. The data comes from the fleet monitoring of 239 Designwerk customer vehicles and provides valuable insights into practice. Whether diesel or electric vehicle – the main factors influencing energy consumption remain the same: distance, weight, topography, driving style, road and weather conditions as well as the specific area of use. These factors could not be more different in our customers’ applications. As an expert in electric trucks for special applications, we supply everything from sewer cleaning vehicles to long-distance transporters.
Our detailed data analysis shows how different consumption can be in different applications. Two impressive examples:
An all-electric sewer cleaner travels around 6,000 kilometers a year, consuming an average of over 360 kWh per 100 kilometers. However, the majority of this energy is not used for driving, but for operating the powerful flushing and suction units.
An electric tractor unit with a battery capacity of up to 1,000 kWh and a payload of approx. 40 tons consumes an average of 130 kWh/100 km. Some of our customers achieve impressive mileages with their Designwerk vehicles: The three top performers covered an average of over 186,000 kilometers in 2024, with individual vehicles already exceeding the 500,000 kilometer total mileage mark.
The lowest value was recorded by an international trading platform in Germany with just 95 kWh/100 km – an indication of the transportation of large-volume but light goods in the B2C mail order business.
Average consumption per vehicle category; 01.01. – 31.12.2024
The data analysis clearly shows that auxiliary drives play a decisive role in overall consumption. Vehicles with energy-intensive units such as concrete drums or high-pressure flushing systems have high consumption levels despite moderate mileage. Another example is our new all-electric snow plow, which went into operation at the end of 2024. Equipped with a front blade, side blade and salt spreader, it consumes an average of around 380 kWh/100 km when clearing snow – a considerable energy saving compared to the diesel version.
In 2024, our customers covered a total of 8.8 million kilometers with their Designwerk e-trucks, consuming around 13 million kWh of electricity in the process. Diesel trucks would have only covered 2.2 million kilometers with the same amount of energy – almost 75 percent less. In addition, the fuel costs for the shorter distance covered by the diesel-equivalent vehicle would have been almost twice as high.
The battery-electric drive is not only impressive in terms of efficiency, but also in terms of its carbon footprint. The Designwerk customer fleet consumed an average of 147.5 kWh/100 km. By comparison, a diesel truck fleet with comparable applications would have consumed around 40.7 liters/100 km. Overall, our customers were able to save almost 10,000 tons of CO₂ in 2024.
From a tank-to-wheel perspective, the electric fleet from Designwerk emits around 6.25 times less CO₂ during operation than an equivalent diesel fleet. This corresponds to a saving of 84 percent of CO₂ emissions.
To make these savings tangible: If the weight of the CO₂ emissions saved were converted into an average filled 40-foot container (total weight 6 tons per container), a clear picture would emerge:
Our customers are thus making a significant contribution to the decarbonization of the transport sector.
The data provides impressive proof that heavy-duty electric trucks are not only cleaner, but also economically sustainable in the long term. They can fully exploit their advantages in special applications in particular – be it through lower energy costs, reduced emissions or higher energy efficiency. Are you looking for solutions for your specific requirements? Contact us.
