Every week we get the same question in different words: with diesel where it is, should I buy a new electric truck, or add capacity with a used diesel unit and wait?
It is a good question, and it has a real answer — but not a single one. It depends on distance, charging, and how long you intend to keep the truck. Below is how to work it out on paper instead of on instinct.
The Question Behind the Question
Buyers usually frame this as a technology choice. It is a cash-flow choice.
A used diesel unit is a lower outlay now, with a higher cost per kilometre for as long as you run it. An electric unit is a higher outlay now, with a much lower cost per kilometre — provided you actually run the kilometres.
So the decision reduces to one number: how far will this truck travel per year, and for how many years?
If you cannot answer that, no comparison is meaningful. Start there.
The Five-Year Cost of a Used Diesel Unit
Take a well-maintained used howo truck for sale in the 2019–2022 range, typical of what moves through our yard. The purchase price is attractive, and that is exactly why it is tempting.
The costs that follow are not attractive, but they are predictable:
- Fuel. 35–45 litres per 100 km loaded. This is the dominant cost and the one diesel price movements hit directly.
- Maintenance. Older units need more of it. Budget for injectors, turbo, brake system and cooling work over five years.
- Downtime. The real cost, and the one rarely modelled. A used unit off the road for a week on a fixed mine contract costs more than the part that failed.
- Resale. Depreciates further, but slower than a new unit. This is the genuine advantage of buying used.
A used unit is a reasonable answer when the route is uncertain, the contract is short, or charging does not exist yet. It is a poor answer when the route is fixed and long.
The Five-Year Cost of an Electric Unit
An electric tractor costs more to buy and less to run. The gap between those two facts is the whole argument.
- Energy. 120–160 kWh per 100 km loaded, at commercial tariffs. Depending on your local diesel and power prices, this is typically a fraction of the diesel bill — but "fraction" is not a number, so do the arithmetic below with your own figures.
- Maintenance. Fewer moving parts, no engine oil, longer service intervals, and regenerative braking extends brake life on stop-start routes.
- Downtime. Fewer failure modes, but when high-voltage components fail, diagnosis takes longer and parts may need importing. This is a real risk and should be planned for, not dismissed.
- Resale. Unproven in most of our markets. Assume a weaker resale position than diesel and let the operating saving carry the case.
Finding Your Break-even Distance
Here is the arithmetic, with worked assumptions you should replace with your own.
Assumptions: 200 km per day, 300 working days = 60,000 km per year. Diesel at 40 L/100 km. Electric at 140 kWh/100 km. Diesel $1.20 per litre. Electricity $0.12 per kWh. Price premium for the electric unit: $45,000.
| Item | Used diesel | Electric |
|---|---|---|
| Annual energy | 24,000 L = $28,800 | 84,000 kWh = $10,080 |
| Annual energy saving | — | $18,720 |
| Price premium | — | $45,000 |
| Simple payback | — | ≈ 2.4 years |
At 30,000 km per year the same premium takes nearly five years to recover. At 100,000 km it takes about 18 months.
That is the whole decision. The truck does not change; the distance does.
Two adjustments before you trust the result:
- Add the charger to the premium. A DC fast charger is part of the cost of electrification, not a separate project.
- Add the cost of capital. If you finance the premium, the interest belongs in the payback calculation.
When Used Still Wins
Be honest about these cases — they are common, and forcing electric into them destroys the business case.
- Charging does not exist on the route, and will not within two years.
- The contract is short or uncertain. A 12-month project does not repay a five-year premium.
- Utilisation is low. Under roughly 40,000–50,000 km per year, the arithmetic usually fails.
- Mixed and variable work. If the truck moves between sites with different payloads and no fixed base, charging becomes a logistics problem rather than a cost problem.
- You need capacity next month. A used unit ships from stock; a new electric build has a lead time.
In all five cases, adding a used unit is the rational move. It is also why used shacman truck export stock stays strong in exactly these segments, and why we keep SHACMAN 6x4 tippers in the yard rather than on order.
When Electric Wins
The mirror image, equally clear:
- Fixed mine or port cycle, same road, same load, 200 km or more per day — the classic heavy duty truck for Africa profile, and the one electric handles best.
- Own depot with reliable power, where you control the charger and the tariff.
- Emissions or noise restrictions that decide whether you get the permit at all.
- Long holding period — you intend to run the truck for six years or more.
- High fuel price relative to electricity, which is the situation in most of the markets we serve.
A Decision Checklist
Score each line 0, 1 or 2. Above 12, electric is worth pricing seriously. Below 8, buy used and revisit in a year.
| # | Question | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annual distance per truck | <30,000 km | 30–60,000 km | >60,000 km |
| 2 | Route fixed and repeatable | No | Partly | Yes |
| 3 | Charging available at depot | No | Planned | Yes |
| 4 | Years you intend to keep it | <3 | 3–5 | >5 |
| 5 | Fuel price vs electricity price | Small gap | Moderate | Large gap |
| 6 | Emissions or noise limits apply | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| 7 | Workshop can handle high voltage | No | Training planned | Yes |
| 8 | Parts supply for the brand | Weak | Adequate | Strong |
| 9 | Payload is the binding limit | Yes | Sometimes | No |
| 10 | Contract length | <1 year | 1–3 years | >3 years |
Two things this checklist will not tell you: whether your drivers will adapt, and whether your electricity supply is as reliable as the utility claims. Both are worth a site visit before committing a fleet. For the technical side of matching a tractor to a low bed semi trailer or a U-type dump semi trailer, our export blog goes into the detail.
FAQ
Is a used howo truck for sale still a good buy if I plan to electrify later?
Yes, and it is a common sequence. Run the used unit on variable work, electrify the fixed route first, then move the diesel unit to the routes that charging cannot reach yet. The resale market for well-maintained HOWO units supports this.
How do I compare a used truck against a new electric one fairly?
Compare cost per kilometre over the same annual distance, including downtime and financing. Comparing purchase price alone always favours used, and comparing fuel cost alone always favours electric. Neither is a decision.
Does shacman truck export stock work the same way?
The logic is identical. SHACMAN trucks have the frame strength for heavy tipper work, so the payload-versus-battery trade-off matters more there than on tractor work. Check axle loads with a full battery before you commit to a body size.
What if my electricity is unreliable?
Then the case weakens sharply. A diesel unit with a fuel tank is more resilient than an electric unit with a grid connection that fails. Consider a generator-backed charger, and price the fuel for it into the comparison — it usually reduces the saving considerably.
Next Step
Send your annual distance, fuel price and electricity tariff to the export team and we will run the same arithmetic with your numbers and tell you which way it points — including when the honest answer is "buy used for now".
WhatsApp: +86 133 5510 0219 · Email: weierxin@wrxtruck.com
