The average forecourt price reached 199.9p per litre on 30 September, up 35p since 8 July. Meanwhile, UK haulier Welch Group forecasts substantial long-term savings from electrifying its fleet and opening its charging infrastructure to other operators.
For hauliers already investing in electric trucks, the rising cost of diesel is reinforcing the commercial opportunity. Welch Group, which operates both diesel and electric HGVs, has developed its own financial model examining the economics of electrification and shared depot charging.
Its internal projections suggest that, as its electric fleet expands and charging infrastructure is shared with other operators, the modelled annual saving against a diesel-fleet comparison could reach approximately £792,000 by 2035. This is a projected operating-cost comparison, not an achieved saving or a complete vehicle lifetime cost assessment.
“Diesel prices are proving that our decision to go electric was the right one” said Chris Welch, CEO of Welch Group. “We're already seeing substantial savings on energy costs compared with diesel, and every increase at the pump makes the economics of electrification more compelling. But the opportunity goes much further. By opening our charging hubs to other operators, we can spread the cost of infrastructure and make our own electric trucks progressively cheaper to run. Our internal modelling suggests the savings could become increasingly significant as our fleet and charging network grow. This is about running a more efficient and competitive haulage business. Cutting emissions matters, but so does protecting our margins. The more electric trucks we put on the road, the greater the opportunity to do both.”
Welch Group’s internal model projects that the all-in cost of charging its own electric trucks could fall from approximately 42p per kWh in 2026 to 9.1p per kWh by 2035, assuming its planned fleet growth and shared charging activity materialise. The estimates include electricity and allocated infrastructure costs, and are sensitive to future energy prices, charging demand and utilisation.
These figures are Welch Group’s own forward-looking estimates, not independently verified savings or forecasts for the wider haulage industry. Welch Group’s projections illustrate the potential for shared charging infrastructure to become a commercial asset for hauliers, rather than simply an operating cost. By allowing other fleets to use depot charging facilities, operators could generate additional revenue, improve infrastructure utilisation and reduce the effective cost of charging their own vehicles.
“Diesel at these prices changes the commercial conversation around electric trucks” added Simon Smith, CEO of electric HGV charging specialist Voltempo. “For years, operators have been told that electrification means choosing between doing the right thing and making money. That choice is disappearing for a growing number of operations. Electric trucks, intelligent depot charging and competitively priced energy can give hauliers greater control over one of their biggest operating costs. Shared charging offers another opportunity to strengthen the economics by making better use of infrastructure. The opportunity isn't simply to replace diesel trucks with electric ones. It's to build a more efficient, resilient and potentially more profitable haulage business.”
Despite the potential savings, diesel continues to dominate the UK truck market. According to New AutoMotive's analysis, 97 percent of new trucks registered in 2025 were diesel, while electric trucks accounted for just over 1 percent of registrations during the first eight months of 2026.
The latest diesel price increases are bringing renewed attention to the economics of electrification, particularly for operators with predictable routes, access to depot charging and opportunities to secure lower-cost electricity.
For those fleets, the question is increasingly not simply how much an electric truck costs to buy, but how much it could save over its working life.
“Hauliers are paying tens of millions of pounds more every week for diesel, and almost every new truck sold in Britain still depends on it” said Ben Nelmes, CEO, New AutoMotive. “Electric trucks offer a way out of that exposure, but operators and manufacturers cannot plan around a policy that does not yet exist. The government asked the industry for its views at the start of the year. It now needs to get on and decide, so that fleets can invest with confidence.”
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