Winslow EV trial: real numbers
Coverage of a 2.5‑year Winslow EV truck trial reported upfront costs for the EVs at about $350–450K versus roughly $180K for comparable diesel trucks, plus 45‑minute charge times versus 10–15 minute refuels in diesel service (Darren Adams via X, Darren Adams via X). The same trial notes EV range at about 200–300 km versus diesel’s ~1,500 km, a 10–20% payload reduction from battery weight, and higher tire wear cited by operators in the study (Darren Adams via X).
A 2.5-year electric log-truck trial in South Australia ended with the truck parked after operators found it could do the work but not match diesel on cost. (abc.net.au) Fennell Forestry began the trial in early 2023 with a converted Kenworth prime mover hauling logs from forests to sawmills in the Green Triangle region near Mount Gambier. Managing director Wendy Fennell said the truck had enough torque and capacity to pull the loads. (abc.net.au) The company said charging infrastructure and electricity network charges drove the economics, not just the truck itself. Fennell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that diesel would have to rise above 4 Australian dollars a litre before the electric truck looked comparable on cost. (abc.net.au) The trial sits inside a freight market built around long distances and very heavy combinations. Fennell said a smaller rigid truck carrying 4.5 tonnes is a different task from a B-double hauling 70.5 tonnes across regional South Australia. (abc.net.au) That gap helps explain why operators focus on range, charging time and payload before they talk about tailpipe emissions. In the trial coverage circulated by Darren Adams, operators put the electric truck’s range at about 200 to 300 kilometres, against roughly 1,500 kilometres for a comparable diesel truck. (x.com) The same coverage said the electric truck cost about 350,000 to 450,000 Australian dollars upfront, versus about 180,000 Australian dollars for a comparable diesel. It also put charging stops at about 45 minutes, compared with 10 to 15 minutes to refuel a diesel truck. (x.com) Battery weight also cut carrying capacity in the trial reporting. Operators said payload fell by about 10 to 20 percent and cited higher tire wear during service. (x.com) The South Australian government backed phase two of the project with 200,000 Australian dollars in 2024 under the Wood Fibre and Timber Industry Master Plan. State-backed coverage at the time described the program as a test of how heavy-vehicle decarbonisation could work in a forestry supply chain. (sevoice.com.au) Other Australian operators are still pushing battery trucks into shorter, denser freight tasks. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on April 9, 2026 that New Energy Transport plans a Wilton depot southwest of Sydney with up to 50 heavy electric prime movers on the Hume Highway corridor by mid-2026. (abc.net.au) The Fennell result does not say battery trucks cannot haul freight. It says one real-world timber route, one converted heavy truck and one regional charging setup did not yet beat diesel on the numbers operators use every day. (abc.net.au)
