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Partners pioneer first electric truck through the Tunnel

[ January 23, 2026   //   ]

Kuehne+Nagel, LeShuttle Freight, Voltempo and DAF Trucks have sent the first electric heavy-goods vehicle through the Channel Tunnel.

The journey began at KN’s East Midlands Gateway depot in the UK where the truck was loaded with 12-tonnes of freight before being fully charged using the depot’s Voltempo HyperCharger, the UK’s first megawatt-scale charging system. Formally opened on 15 January the six-bay hub is capable of delivering up to a megawatt of power.

On the 1,700 km round-trip route to KN’s depot in Haiger, Germany, the two-person crew topped up at public charging hubs in the UK, France and Belgium.

The vehicle used was the DAF New Generation XF, which provides a real-world range of up to 500km (310 miles) on a single charge and supports DC charging up to 325kW, making daily journeys of up to 1,000km feasible.

The partners will share their learnings and insights from the trip to help accelerate the shift to low-emission transport.

KN sustainability and social impact director, Kate Broome, said: “Planning a multi‑country long‑haul route still requires extra work to optimize our schedule for charging stops, but the rapid expansion of charging infrastructure across the UK and Europe is transforming what’s achievable.”

Logistics UK chief executive, Ben Fletcher, added: “This group has demonstrated that range anxiety will soon be a thing of the past for eHGVs.” 

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