The Impact of Urban Policy Instruments on Sweden’s Electrification of Heavy-Duty Trucks

Heavy-duty trucks, especially those used in urban areas, are responsible for a disproportionally large share of the external costs of the transportation sector. Policy instruments that target these trucks could thus be efficient measures to reduce negative impact from the traffic sector. This paper presents how heavy-duty trucks operated in Sweden’s two largest cities, Gothenburg and Stockholm, in the year 2022 and how zero-emission zones or environmental zones with an entrance fee targeting heavy-duty trucks could affect not only urban traffic but all trucks on Swedish roads. The analysis is based on GPS data from 69,000 trucks in operation in Sweden in the year 2022. Of these trucks, 4% visited the two cities for more than 100 days (frequent visitors) and 40% visited at least once during the year. Although zero-emission zones would have the strongest impact, environmental zones with an entrance fee could be a more flexible way to create a strong enough incentive for frequent visitors to electrify. An entrance fee of 100 Euro per day in combination with current investment subsidies would make electric trucks competitive for frequent visitors and still allow for others to continue using conventional trucks during a transition period.