‘Certainty, not subsidies’: Aegis chief calls on Chancellor to back electric truck transition

With the Chancellor preparing to deliver Wednesday’s Budget, Aegis Energy chief executive Michael Shaw (main picture) has a relatively straightforward message for the government: stop changing the rules and give the road transport industry the confidence to invest.

Shaw is optimistic about the future of zero-emission road freight, believing the transition towards electrification and alternative fuels is inevitable. But he is also realistic about the challenges facing an industry where operators work on notoriously tight margins and where the economics of switching from diesel are still difficult to make stack up.

His argument is that the government does not necessarily need to bankroll the transition, but it does need to create the conditions in which businesses can plan for it.

“What I’d be asking the Chancellor to announce is consistency in the policy framework,” he tells Motor Transport. “Chopping and changing doesn’t help anyone – investors, fleets, manufacturers or infrastructure developers – to make plans and to get that investment that’s needed to unlock the chicken and egg of infrastructure availability.”

There are, however, two more tangible measures he would particularly like to see. The first is some form of government underwriting of electric truck residual values, which he believes could help unlock more attractive leasing arrangements for operators. The second is clarity over what will follow the existing plug-in truck grant.

“It would be helpful for the government to underwrite, to some extent, part of the residual values,” he says. “That would really help unlock leases to interested operators. Green finance institutes are really interested in that, and we really back their plans.

“I think providing clarity on what follows the plug-in truck grant would be really helpful to see from the Chancellor. Just giving longer-term security to those that are interested in decarbonising sooner.”

It is a measured appeal, but one that reflects a fundamental problem for the industry. While manufacturers are bringing increasingly capable electric trucks to market, and infrastructure providers are investing in charging networks, many hauliers remain unconvinced that the financial and operational case is strong enough to justify making the switch.

The upfront cost of an electric tractor unit can be several times that of its diesel equivalent. Payload restrictions remain a concern, while the availability of suitable charging infrastructure and the cost and timescale of securing additional electricity capacity can make depot electrification a considerable undertaking.

For operators, the question is not simply whether electric trucks will eventually become commonplace, but whether they can afford to be among the early adopters.

Shaw acknowledges the difficulties, but believes the economics are improving.

“The total cost of ownership is improving every day,” he says. “The cost of the tractors is coming down, the payload question is being addressed by different providers in different ways, and it depends on your own operation, whether you’re absolutely maximising your payload opportunity or whether it’s actually a volume question, as it is for couriers and parcel deliveries.”

He suggests operators should begin with the routes that are easiest to electrify, particularly predictable, point-to-point operations, and take advantage of vehicle trials and route analysis offered by manufacturers.

But for those running long-distance, high-mileage operations, the obstacles remain considerable. The prospect of committing substantial sums to vehicles that may have uncertain residual values, without knowing whether charging facilities will be available along their routes, is hardly an attractive one.

It is precisely this infrastructure gap that Aegis Energy is attempting to address.

Backed by a £100m investment from infrastructure investor Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, announced in March 2025, the company is developing a network of multi-energy hubs designed specifically for commercial vehicles. Its proposition is deliberately broader than electric charging, with sites intended to accommodate different technologies as the market develops.

The first of these developments, a 6.5-acre site in Sheffield, is now under construction. It will offer 12 dedicated HGV charging bays initially, with the infrastructure in place to expand that number to 24 as demand grows. There will also be at least 20 dedicated van charging bays, alongside parking and driver welfare facilities.

Aegis says the sites will provide a secure place for drivers to stop, rest and, where necessary, stay overnight, as well as access to charging and alternative fuels.

The company intends to offer electric charging and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) from the outset, with the capability to introduce biomethane if customer demand justifies it. The longer-term ambition is to establish up to 50 multi-energy hubs across England, Scotland and Wales.

For Shaw, the multi-energy approach is important because he does not believe there will be a single solution for every operator.

“We are technology agnostic,” he says. “We want to support fleets to make their decisions to decarbonise in a way that makes sense to them.”

“There are more options than there’s ever been,” Shaw says. “Electrification is proving a very credible solution for many types of operation. HVO, as a drop-in replacement for diesel, is a really good option for a lot of vehicles and a lot of fleets.”

Aegis’s sites are intended to remain useful to conventional diesel operators through their parking, security and welfare facilities, even if electric truck adoption takes longer than expected.

That is an important consideration given the scale of the investment required. Shaw estimates that a new multi-energy hub, or an existing site requiring a substantial new grid connection, can cost upwards of £10m. He also points to industry estimates suggesting the UK could need between 50 and 200 such facilities over the coming years.

The challenge is that infrastructure investment cannot happen in isolation. Even operators that want to electrify their depots can find themselves facing lengthy delays and significant costs in securing the necessary grid connections.

“Some fleets are finding that it’s difficult to get the grid connections they need,” he says. “And that’s why public access infrastructure like ours can be helpful.”

He welcomes Ofgem’s work on consulting on how grid connections can be made easier, as well as more proactive engagement between distribution network operators and large energy users. But he believes government also needs to ensure that grid capacity is upgraded ahead of demand.

“We know the demand is coming, whether it’s from industry, passenger cars, or vans and trucks,” he says. “Making sure those grid upgrades are in place at the key major nodes on the motorway network and the logistics hubs will be really helpful.”

It is a significant point for an industry that is increasingly being told to electrify but cannot always access the electricity supply needed to do so.

There is also a wider economic argument behind Shaw’s enthusiasm for the transition. Britain’s dependence on imported diesel leaves hauliers exposed to international market volatility and geopolitical instability, something he believes electrification could help address.

He is unconvinced that extending the existing fuel duty cut would offer much meaningful support to HGV operators. Instead, he argues that reducing reliance on imported fuels would give the industry greater long-term security.

“What would really help Britain’s hauliers is that the government decouples the UK’s reliance on the volatile import fuel market,” he says. “We’re seeing diesel at unmatched prices, and electrification offers our hauliers a more competitive and secure future.”

Electricity, he points out, can be generated domestically, rather than relying on imported fuel and the international politics that influence its price.

However, while Shaw believes the transition will continue regardless of the Chancellor’s announcements, he is not suggesting that government policy is irrelevant.

He argues that vehicle prices will continue to fall as manufacturers increase production and competition intensifies. European truck makers are already developing their electric offerings, while Chinese manufacturers are beginning to make inroads into the European market and could bring more affordable options to the UK.

He welcomes that prospect, believing additional competition can only be good news for operators looking to improve their bottom line.

“Having more options out there for different models and tractors and combinations is no bad thing for operators who are looking at their bottom line,” he says.

The emergence of new manufacturers may also help address one of the biggest barriers to adoption: the purchase price of electric trucks. But lower vehicle costs alone will not solve the infrastructure and operational challenges that continue to concern hauliers.

Indeed, one of the more interesting aspects of Aegis’s proposition is that it is effectively investing in the future while recognising that the future will not arrive at the same speed for everyone.

Shaw points to interest from electric-only operators, as well as van courier businesses, where the economics of electrification are already more favourable. He also highlights the opportunity for fleets to introduce a small number of electric vehicles and trial different routes without having to transform their entire operation.

For the wider HGV sector, however, the transition is likely to be more gradual.

Aegis is therefore positioning itself as an infrastructure provider for the whole industry, rather than simply a charging network for early adopters. Its hubs are intended to serve conventional and alternative-fuelled vehicles today, while providing the charging capacity needed as electric truck numbers increase.

Looking a decade ahead, Shaw expects a much wider choice of vehicles, a significantly expanded public charging network and continued improvements in vehicle weights and dimensions.

He is optimistic that operators will ultimately find ways to improve their margins while reducing their environmental impact.

But for that to happen, he believes logistics needs to receive the attention it deserves from policymakers.

“The business case for the energy transition really stands on its own two feet. It doesn’t really need public-sector intervention to continue. It’s inevitable acceleration,” he says.

“What is really helpful is that there is policy consistency and a long-term framework behind the government’s plans for decarbonisation for our sector.”

Shaw is not asking the Chancellor to take responsibility for the entire transition, nor is he suggesting that every haulier should be rushing out to buy electric trucks. Instead, he wants government to remove some of the financial and regulatory uncertainty that makes investment difficult.

For an industry that has spent decades operating on the economics of diesel, the move to a new energy system will inevitably take time. And while infrastructure developers such as Aegis are prepared to put significant capital behind that change, the ultimate success of their investments depends on operators having the confidence to follow.

As Shaw puts it: “Haulage and logistics is absolutely essential to the UK economy, and every bit of attention the government can give to the sector is welcome and important.”

The question for the Chancellor is whether that attention will translate into the long-term certainty the industry is asking for.