The jump in diesel prices triggered by the Iran war is expected to accelerate electrification of China’s heavy truck fleet this year, analysts and automakers say, and speed a decline in fuel demand in the world’s largest oil importer, Reuters reports.

Electric heavy truck sales grew over the last two years from a niche market to nearly a third of new heavy truck purchases in 2025 thanks to government subsidies, cheap refuelling and expanding charging infrastructure.

Last year’s growth was particularly weighted in the fourth quarter because buyers also thought the trade-in subsidy programme would be ending soon.

New-energy heavy truck sales, which are mostly electric, began this year with the same kind of pop, growing 45 per cent year-on-year to 44,000 units and accounting for more than a quarter of the segment, up from less than 20pc of sales a year earlier.