High gas prices have helped drive more interest in electric cars this year. But it's not just everyday drivers who are looking to ditch fossil fuels.

Eye-watering diesel costs are pushing more shippers to consider a switch to electric trucks, Roozbeh Charli, CEO of electric and autonomous freight company Einride, told me in an interview.

"You're definitely seeing an upswing in both customer conversations and just general narrative" around electrification, he said.

Diesel prices have risen far more severely than prices for regular gasoline, putting extra pressure on commercial operators. The average cost of diesel in the U.S. has shot up by more than 60% since the war with Iran began, to over $6 per gallon. Shippers are facing far higher fuel costs in Europe too. It all means customers who told Einride they'd revisit the idea of electric freight sometime down the line are deciding to get the ball rolling.

"A lot of those customers are coming back now, saying 'let's get started, rather sooner than later,'" Charli said.

There's some evidence that those conversations are generating actual business. Einride, which was founded in 2016 and sells electric freight services and software, says its sales pipeline tripled year over year during the first half of 2026. Its conversion rate doubled over the same period.

And it isn't the only one noticing an uptick in demand. In September, a coalition of shippers like PepsiCo placed an order for 2,500 electric trucks in a deal that's set to double the U.S. fleet of electric Class 8 trucks. Catalyst Mobility, one of the nonprofits running the program, has said it's noticed more interest in EV trucks from companies that weren't involved in the deal due to diesel prices.

Charli chalks the increased interest up to a couple of things. The pricing pain today is part of it. It means there's a broader range of customer use cases where electric trucks are price-competitive with, or cheaper than, using traditional big-rigs. Those are typically what he calls "middle-mile" applications of, say, 100-200 miles back and forth, with high utilization. That last part is key, since battery-powered trucks still tend to cost more than diesel ones.