By Albrich van Niekerk, Group CEO – Pander Holdings (Pty) Ltd
Editor’s Comment: OK. This article is going to solicit a lot of agreement and a lot of opposition. I say this because there is a huge amount of support for electric trucks in Europe and indeed, even growing support in South Africa where although adoption is in the early stages, some operators are already incorporating them into their fleets. However, there are also many who do not see the electric truck as the way forward to ensure a sustainable planet or industry. So, what’s your view? Have electric trucks “proven to be the spoiled child of a misguided dream – expensive, unreliable and impractical in the real world of freight and logistics” as Van Niekerk states – or do you see them having a practical and viable role to play in the move towards emission-free trucking while also creating financial and operational benefits for truck operators. Get involved in the debate. It’s an important one. Send your views to The Editor, Patrick O’Leary at fleetwatch@pixie.co.za. And now, it’s over to Albrich van Niekerk to lay his cards on the table with his opinion.
For over a century, the internal combustion engine (ICE) has not only powered our vehicles – it has also powered our economies. It remains the backbone of global industry, directly and indirectly supporting millions of jobs across manufacturing, transport, logistics, mining, and energy. In short, the internal combustion engine keeps the world moving. To imagine it being replaced entirely by electric trucks is, at best, wishful thinking – and at worst, economic suicide.
The harsh reality of electric trucks
Electric trucks entered the stage with glamorous promises: zero emissions, silent operation and a cleaner planet. Yet in practice, they have proven to be the spoiled child of a misguided dream – expensive, unreliable and impractical in the real world of freight and logistics.
Let’s face it: the infrastructure to charge electric trucks does not exist on any meaningful scale. Not in Africa, not even consistently in Europe or the United States. And even if it did, the electricity itself isn’t green. Charging an “eco-friendly” truck with coal-based power defeats the very purpose of going green.
We are burning fossil fuels to charge batteries that are meant to save us from burning fossil fuels – the irony writes itself.
The real cost of “green”
Producing batteries for electric trucks is an expensive, energy-intensive and environmentally destructive process. Mining the lithium, nickel and cobalt needed for battery cells causes significant ecological and social harm.
Add to that the reality that these batteries are short-lived, costly to replace and difficult to recycle – and the so-called “zero-emission vehicle” begins to look less like a revolution and more like a costly detour.
When you factor in the manufacturing footprint, charging emissions and eventual disposal, many lifecycle studies now show that an electric truck’s total environmental cost can rival or even exceed that of a modern diesel engine running on cleaner fuel.
The future lies in cleaner combustion
Instead of trying to kill the internal combustion engine, we should be evolving it. The real answer lies in cleaner fuels – hydrogen, ammonia, synthetic fuels and advanced bio-diesels. These allow us to leverage decades of proven technology while drastically cutting emissions.
Hydrogen, for example, offers the efficiency and refueling speed that heavy-duty transport needs. Synthetic fuels can even recycle captured carbon, creating a closed-loop system that keeps the ICE alive while cleaning up its act.
It’s a path of evolution, not extinction – and it makes both environmental and economic sense.
Let’s be practical
The internal combustion engine built modern civilization. It drives our food, our goods, our economies, and our livelihoods. Electric trucks, on the other hand, remain a luxury experiment – appealing to headlines and political targets rather than to hard logistics reality.
If we truly care about the planet and the people who keep it running, we should stop chasing the electric fantasy and start investing in cleaner, more sustainable fuels for the technology that already works. Because the world doesn’t need a new engine.
It just needs a cleaner one.
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