On June 12, the Ministry of Transport, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and eight other departments jointly released the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Large-scale Application of New Energy Heavy Trucks".
This major policy announcement marks a new phase of scaled development for the new energy heavy truck sector.
The plan sets several core development targets for the year 2030: a new energy heavy truck market penetration rate reaching 40%, with the total fleet exceeding 1.6 million vehicles, accounting for approximately 20% of the total; the electrification rate for fixed-route short-distance transport in regions like the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and the Fenwei Plain surpassing 80%; the creation of zero-carbon highway transport corridors, supporting and guiding the construction of around 3,000 heavy truck charging and battery swap stations; and new energy heavy trucks accounting for 18% of highway freight volume.
More significantly, the plan explicitly calls for "establishing an infrastructure, technological equipment, supporting services, standards, and policy support system adapted to the large-scale application of new energy heavy trucks, forming a promotion mechanism with multi-department coordination and multi-entity linkage." This signifies that the new energy transition in the heavy truck industry has entered a stage of large-scale, full-scenario, and ecosystem-oriented implementation and deployment, heralding a profound transformation from quantitative change to qualitative change for the sector.
Large-Scale Growth
With top-level policy now clarified, the market growth potential for the new energy heavy truck industry is fully unlocked. According to a report cited by CCTV, from January 2025 to May 2026, cumulative sales of new energy heavy trucks nationwide reached 337,000 units, with market penetration exceeding 29.5%. Against the 40% target for 2030, the industry's fleet size is set to enter a phase of rapid expansion in the coming years.
Full-Scenario Application
The plan specifies increased support for the application of new energy heavy trucks across all scenarios. On one hand, it continues to strengthen the shift to new energy in medium- and short-distance transport scenarios, including vehicles for mining transport, construction waste transport, concrete mixer trucks, urban distribution vehicles, and postal/courier vehicles. On the other hand, it accelerates expansion into long-haul trunk line transport applications, covering container transport and long-haul highway transport for express delivery and logistics companies.
Ecosystem Development
Issues like "short range, slow refueling/recharging, and difficult maintenance" have long been core bottlenecks hindering the adoption of new energy heavy trucks. This plan directly addresses these pain points, specifying the acceleration of energy replenishment infrastructure construction and the improvement of operational service systems. It focuses on building a network of energy replenishment facilities along national highways and busy freight sections of provincial and national roads, tailored to local conditions, and aims to construct 30,000 kilometers of zero-carbon highway transport corridors along key sections of the national expressway network.
With the implementation of this plan, the industry's competitive logic will also be reshaped: shifting from "competing on vehicles" to "competing on ecosystems." In the past, the industry often focused on product competition between vehicles and batteries, but individual vehicle manufacturers alone struggled to solve pain points like difficult refueling/recharging, low vehicle utilization rates, and high Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Now, integrated ecosystem capabilities encompassing vehicles, stations, data, services, and standards will become the key to corporate success.
The "Invisible Infrastructure" and Strategic Positioning in the New Energy Heavy Truck Arena
As the penetration rate of new energy heavy trucks continues to rise, semi-trailers and specialized vehicle superstructures are no longer merely cargo-carrying tools. They have become the "invisible infrastructure" for new energy heavy trucks, the indispensable "other half" defining their commercial value.
Corresponding to the large-scale aspect mentioned in the plan, Cimc Vehicles(Group)Co.,Ltd. (ASX: 301039), as a leading enterprise in semi-trailers and specialized vehicles, has maintained the global top position in production and sales for thirteen consecutive years. Facing the wave of industry transformation, Cimc Vehicles has been actively expanding the R&D and sales of its new energy products and deepening cooperation with original equipment manufacturers across the entire value chain of product development, manufacturing, and sales. In 2025, the company's combined sales of new energy series exceeded 11,000 units, a year-on-year increase of over 100%, creating higher value for customers through efficient delivery and excellent quality.
Regarding full-scenario application, Cimc Vehicles has established a comprehensive product portfolio covering semi-trailers, specialized vehicle superstructures, and its EV-RT solutions. Its seven major semi-trailer categories cover the full spectrum of road logistics needs. Its EV·DTB superstructure products include EV-DTB·dumper trucks, EV-DTB·mixer trucks, and EV-DTB·refrigerated trucks, widely used in engineering and infrastructure construction. The EV-RT business has formed complete solutions covering both engineering and logistics series.
Furthermore, Cimc Vehicles had already anticipated three systemic bottlenecks in the heavy truck new energy transition: severe homogenization and internal competition among "diesel-to-electric" conversion products, an incomplete energy replenishment and maintenance support system, and a lack of a full lifecycle value loop. While the industry was primarily focused on the electrification of single vehicle models, the company was the first to propose building an EV-RT ecosystem centered on "pure electric tractor-trailer combinations + operational support base stations," advocating that deep tractor-trailer synergy and a closed-loop operational ecosystem are the core keys to solving new energy heavy truck pain points.
At the Wuhan International Commercial Vehicle Exhibition in November 2025, Cimc Vehicles globally launched the EV-RT "vehicle" + "station" ecosystem, innovatively proposing a station-vehicle协同operation system. This marked the company's elevation of its competitive dimension from single products to an ecosystem of "product + service + infrastructure."
The Vehicle: Forward R&D Creates Tractor-Trailer Integration Technical Barriers
The core carrier of the EV-RT ecosystem is the pure electric tractor-trailer combination. Departing from the industry's common approach of "diesel-to-electric" conversions, Cimc Vehicles employs full forward R&D to create the world's first pure electric "tractor-trailer integrated" architecture with deep synergy. This involves deep integration starting from the underlying electronic and electrical architecture, forming a technical barrier that is difficult to replicate.
Corresponding to the full-scenario application outlined in the plan, in 2025, Cimc Vehicles first launched its engineering-type pure electric trailer platform and two products: the EV-RT 700 pure electric tractor-trailer dumper truck and the EV-RT MIX pure electric tractor-trailer mixer truck. In 2026, the company will also launch its logistics-type pure electric trailer platform and corresponding models, with a global debut scheduled for the IAA Transportation show in Hanover in September 2026.
The Station: Modular Operational Support Alleviates User Concerns
The "station" in the EV-RT ecosystem refers to the operational support base station, designed to address new energy heavy truck users' concerns about energy replenishment and vehicle uptime. The base station consists of three core modules: the fleet control center acts as the management hub, enabling intelligent dispatch and full-process visual monitoring; the fleet maintenance center is equipped with specialized equipment and teams for the three-electric system (battery, motor, electronic control) to ensure high vehicle availability. A highlight is the "mobile fast-charging vehicle," which integrates super-fast charging and distributed energy storage technology. It does not require modification of traditional fixed power grids, offers fast deployment and strong adaptability, and can be widely used in scenarios like construction sites, mines, and trunk highways, serving as an organic supplement to fixed energy replenishment networks. Through flexible networking of mobile fast-charging vehicles and fixed charging stations, it can overcome the site limitations of fixed charging piles, rapidly expand the energy replenishment radius, and dynamically adjust layouts based on customer operational scenarios, providing precise and efficient operational support where and when it is most needed.
While aiming high, it's also crucial to stay grounded. In January 2026, Cimc Vehicles' first global EV-RT mobile user experience center was established in Chongzuo, Guangxi. It not only comprehensively demonstrates the operation of the EV-RT ecosystem but also builds a product co-creation platform between users and the company, enabling efficient linkage between demand and R&D.
The joint release of this plan by eleven ministries has pressed the accelerator for China's new energy heavy truck industry. As a leading enterprise in the semi-trailer and specialized vehicle sector, the large-scale, full-scenario, and ecosystem-oriented layout of Cimc Vehicles aligns highly with the development direction set forth in the plan, positioning the company ahead of the curve and leading innovation in the "invisible infrastructure" for new energy heavy trucks. Cimc Vehicles will continue to pursue its vision for pure electric tractor-trailer combinations, with the EV-RT ecosystem as its core vehicle, collaborating with global industry chain partners to continuously address industry pain points, assist the new energy heavy truck industry in steadily achieving its 2030 development goals, and jointly promote the stable and long-term development of the green and smart logistics industry.
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