Approximately 14,300 zero-emission trucks, vans, buses, and coaches were registered in the European Union during the first half of 2026, a 15% increase from the same period last year.
The latest market analysis from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) shows that zero-emission vehicles continued to gain market share across the EU’s commercial vehicle sector, although adoption remained considerably higher among city buses and medium-duty vehicles than heavy trucks.
Overall heavy-duty vehicle sales in the EU increased 8%, from approximately 177,000 vehicles during the first half of 2025 to 192,000 during the first six months of 2026.
Zero-emission trucks weighing more than 7,700 pounds represented 4.8% of new registrations, up from 3.8% during the same period last year. Buses and coaches reached a zero-emission share of approximately 28%, compared with 23% a year earlier.
The results continue a longer period of growth, but the ICCT report found that the pace varied substantially by vehicle type, country, manufacturer, and quarter.
Heavy trucks weighing more than 26,000 pounds recorded one of the largest year-over-year increases. Approximately 3,400 zero-emission heavy trucks were registered during the first half of 2026, up from 1,900 during the same period in 2025.
Zero-emission models accounted for 2.3% of the approximately 146,000 heavy trucks sold across the EU. That was an increase from a 1.4% share during the first half of 2025.
Mercedes-Benz led the zero-emission heavy-truck segment, accounting for approximately 40% of registrations, primarily through sales of its eActros models.
IVECO also reported a noticeable increase, although from a smaller base. The company registered nearly 100 electric heavy trucks during the second quarter, compared with six during the first quarter, according to the ICCT.
Germany was a significant source of heavy-truck growth. Zero-emission models accounted for 4.6% of the country’s heavy-truck sales by the second quarter, following the introduction of a full road-toll exemption for zero-emission vehicles and a carbon dioxide-based charge for conventional trucks.
The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, which have been among the leading European markets for electric trucks, experienced declines in zero-emission heavy-truck market share between the first and second quarters.
Those differences show that the wider European market is not following a uniform path. Vehicle incentives, road charges, infrastructure availability, fleet operating conditions, and national transportation policies can all affect purchasing activity.
Medium duty trucks and vans continued to have a much higher zero-emission share.
Just under 4,600 zero-emission medium trucks and vans were registered during the first half of the year, representing 21.1% of approximately 22,000 total vehicle sales. During the same period in 2025, zero-emission models accounted for 19.4% of registrations.
Growth in the segment slowed to 15% after registrations had approximately doubled each year between 2022 and 2025. The ICCT attributed much of that change to the van market, where electric vehicles already represented 63% of sales in the weight category covered by the report.
Mercedes-Benz accounted for approximately 40% of zero-emission medium-truck and van registrations, led by the eSprinter. Ford ranked second, primarily through the E-Transit.
The zero-emission share of medium trucks and vans reached 69.8% in the Netherlands and 57.1% in Denmark. Germany’s share increased from 23% during the first half of 2025 to 29.8% during the same period this year, while France rose from 14.6% to 25.6%.
Italy moved in the opposite direction, with its zero-emission share declining from 20.7% to 9.2%.
Buses and coaches recorded the highest overall zero-emission share.
Approximately 6,400 zero-emission buses and coaches were registered during the first half of 2026, up from 4,300 a year earlier. Zero-emission vehicles represented 28.6% of the approximately 22,600 buses and coaches sold.
The results were driven largely by city buses. More than 60% of new city buses registered during the second quarter were zero-emission, the segment’s highest quarterly share recorded by the ICCT.
That marked a reversal from four consecutive quarters of declining zero-emission city bus shares. Diesel models represented approximately 30% of second-quarter city bus registrations.
Italy experienced particularly strong bus growth, with zero-emission vehicles accounting for 45% of bus and coach sales during the first half of 2026, up from 17% during the same period last year.
The European results contrast with the ICCT’s first-quarter U.S. report, which found that zero-emission registrations declined from both the previous quarter and the previous year.
The two reports are not directly comparable. They cover different time periods and vehicle classifications, and the ICCT noted that its U.S. bus data did not appear to capture transit bus manufacturers including Gillig and New Flyer.
Still, the U.S. report counted 132 zero-emission heavy-duty truck registrations during the first quarter, equal to 0.25% of the segment. Zero-emission buses represented 4.9% of the U.S. bus registrations included in the data.
