Electric road freight company New Energy Transport (NET) has secured funding to fast-track the electrification of Australian road freight with its first electric trucks expected to be operational before the end of 2026.
The company claims its “pioneering” modular approach to road freight electrification will accelerate its path to market providing large transport buyers reliable, cost-effective and all-electric road freight.
The plan will see NET invest in 20 new electric prime movers supported by six mobile ultra-fast charging units strategically placed on heavy road freight corridors throughout NSW.
A $5 million equity raise was backed by institutional investors Jekara Group, leading family offices and high-net-worth investors – and facilitated by net zero advisory firm Pollination. NET expects to attract further investment as the company scales.
Co-CEO Daniel Bleakley says NET is “excited to be announcing this investment and the rollout of our rapid deployment plan”.
“We’ve seen a surge in demand from some of Australia’s largest transport buyers and this backing means we can meet that demand by providing reliable electric road freight in Australia before the end of the year,” he adds.
“The modular and mobile charging units we’ve selected aren’t fixed to the ground, they sit on a frame, plug into the grid and are ready for commercial operation within weeks.
“This technological solution means the charging units can be redeployed to new locations in the future to enable NET to service new corridors including into regional and rural Australia.
“This is an additional, flexible capability that supports our plans to build Australia’s largest heavy electric trucking depot and connect the entire east coast road freight corridor in the next five years.”
NET is building what it contends is Australia’s first vertically integrated electric freight platform. The centrepiece is Australia’s largest planned heavy electric trucking depot at Wilton in NSW, recently selected under the Federal Government’s Investor Front Door program as a project of national significance.
Anchoring freight corridors between Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra, the Wilton depot is expected to be operational in late 2027 with initial capacity for 50 trucks and expanding to 200 over time. NET is also progressing plans for a network of electric road freight depots connecting Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane by 2031.
NET’s accelerated plans build momentum toward this vision, allowing the company to establish commercial operation and performance data to inform expansion.
The company estimates its modular and mobile chargers can be operational within 16 weeks, with the 20 electric trucks capable of delivering 10,000 kilometres of fully loaded line-haul freight capacity per day, saving 2.5 million litres of diesel per year.
NET’s vision is to deploy the mobile and modular units to serve freight corridors in agricultural food bowls such as Yass and Griffith in NSW in the near future.
“We’ve proven electric trucks deliver significant productivity and economic benefits, recently completing Australia’s first end-to-end electric road freight delivery from Sydney to Canberra on a single charge, faster and at lower cost than pre-war diesel,” says Fredrik Pehrsson, New Energy Transport’s Co-CEO.
“The bottleneck for electrifying road freight isn’t the technology; it’s the charging infrastructure. NET’s additional rapid deployment plan addresses this challenge head on.
“With further diesel price shocks anticipated, the business case for electric heavy road freight has never been clearer. Stable, predictable and lower freight costs are a genuine competitive advantage, and the companies moving first in Australia are the ones that will secure that advantage.”
William Acworth, Pollination’s Managing Director, believes NET’s business model cuts through the infrastructure and cost barriers that have held back the electrification of Australian heavy road transport – “and electrification means cheaper, cleaner freight”.
“Their rapid deployment plan gets them into commercial operations while building towards the completion of their Wilton depot. This capital, together with strong government backing, reflects confidence in both the urgency of what NET is solving and their ability to execute – setting them up for success as they head into their Series A raise,” he adds.
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