Fact-checking Trump’s claims about EV trucks

By Mika Travis | 09/18/2024 06:29 AM EDT

The former president says the weight of the vehicles would destroy roads and bridges.

Lorries and HGVs diverted off of the closed M6 motorway, are driven across a bridge spanning the flooded River Eden in Warwick Bridge, north west England on January 22, 2024. Tens of thousands of people across the UK and Ireland were without power on Monday after Storm Isha lashed the countries with strong winds and heavy rain, disrupting travel networks. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Trucks driving over a bridge. Former President Donald Trump has said that electrified trucks would damage roads. Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images

On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has said that American bridges and roads can’t handle a boom in electric trucks, which are heavier than gas-powered models because of their batteries.

“You would have to rebuild every bridge in this country,” Trump said in a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in August about the possibility of wide use of electric trucks. He’s since made similar claims in rallies around the country.

While there are significant concerns that the vehicles could cause more strain on the nation’s roads than traditional fossil-fuel powered ones, the risk is not as dire as Trump claims, according to multiple experts.

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That’s because federal and state law currently limits the weights that vehicles can carry, regardless of how they are powered.

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