Highway logistics is where payload pays the bills, and where fleet owners rightly question every kilowatt. This article builds a per-kilometre total cost model for the Dongfeng KTH3 350kWh heavy cargo truck against a diesel 8x4, so Uzbekistan and Central Asian operators can see whether the electric truck beats diesel once tyres, tolls and drivers are included.
The KTH3 is a 350kWh heavy cargo truck rated near the top of the rigid class, with a LvKong motor up to 420 kW and a 20–80% charge of 60–90 minutes. It replaces a diesel 8x4 on 200–400 km daily freight lanes — cement, FMCG, auto parts — where it runs one or two charges per shift depending on load and grade.
We model one truck over 120,000 km per year for five years (600,000 km total):
Diesel energy runs 34 L x $1.05 / 100 = $0.357 per km. The KTH3 draws 1.5 kWh x $0.10 = $0.15 per km. That is $0.207 saved per km, or about $124,200 over 600,000 km. Where industrial tariffs or depot solar drop electricity toward $0.07, the saving widens to $0.27 per km.
| Cost (5 yr / 600k km) | Diesel 8x4 | KTH3 EV |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel / energy | $214,200 | $90,000 |
| Maintenance | $72,000 | $24,000 |
| Acquisition | $120,000 | $105,000 |
| Charger amortised | $0 | $12,000 |
| Total | $406,200 | $231,000 |
No diesel engine means no oil, no injectors, no turbo, no exhaust after-treatment. The KTH3’s $0.04/km maintenance is about one-third of diesel, saving $48,000 over the model. Brake wear also drops with regen, cutting pad and drum cost. Uptime rises because the dominant failure modes of a diesel powertrain simply do not exist.
The KTH3 saves roughly $175,200 over five years, covering its modest price difference and the charger within the first two years. The 8-year/4,500-cycle battery warranty covers the full analysis. For Uzbekistan corridors with weak-but-cheap grid power, the case is even stronger. See the KTH3 electric cargo truck page for specs, and our Uzbekistan electric truck market guide for highway import detail.
On per-km cost the KTH3 electric truck beats a diesel 8x4 by a wide margin on highway logistics, with payback inside two years and lower lifetime risk.
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Battery | CATL LFP 262 kWh, swap-ready architecture |
| Traction motor | LvKong permanent-magnet motor, 250 kW peak |
| Real-world range | 300 km fully loaded, duty-cycle dependent |
| Charging | DC fast charge 20-80% in 45-90 min; battery swap in 5-6 min where stations exist |
| Battery warranty | 8 years or 4,500 cycles, 70% state-of-health guarantee |
| FOB price guide | $75,000-$95,000 depending on specification and options |
Charging an electric truck is a depot discipline, not a public-network gamble. A 262 kWh pack working a 300 km day typically returns with 25 to 35 percent in reserve, so overnight demand is about 157 kWh per truck. On a 120 kW DC charger the pack climbs from 20 to 80 percent in roughly 79 minutes; on 240 kW that falls to about 39 minutes, which lets two trucks share one charger on staggered shifts.
Size the site transformer for your busiest shift plus 30 percent headroom, keep cable runs under 30 metres to limit voltage drop, and meter each charger separately so energy cost per truck stays visible. In Uzbekistan, grid connection lead times of three to nine months are common, so apply for the connection the day you sign the truck order, not the day the ship arrives. Shaanxi Fenghan Trading includes a charger layout drawing and load calculation with every EV truck quotation, so your electrician can price the civil works before the truck lands.
A comparable diesel cargo truck burns about 0.38 litres per kilometre in mixed duty; at $0.95 per litre that is roughly $0.36 per km. The electric equivalent consumes about 1.15 kWh per km fully loaded; at an industrial tariff of $0.10 per kWh the cost is near $0.12 per km, and overnight or solar-coupled charging can push it below $0.08. Over 70,000 km a year the saving is about $17,000 per truck, before any carbon or low-emission-zone benefit.
The gap widens in stop-start duty, where regenerative braking returns 15 to 25 percent of traction energy instead of burning it as brake dust. In Uzbekistan, where diesel quality and price both fluctuate, locking in an electricity tariff also removes a major budgeting variable from the fleet P&L.
The KTH3 has roughly one moving drivetrain part where a diesel has hundreds: no engine oil, no DPF, no turbocharger, no clutch, no multi-gear transmission service. Scheduled maintenance lands near $0.035 per km against $0.11 per km for a diesel equivalent, a saving of more than $5,000 a year at typical utilisation. Brake pads last two to three times longer because the motor does most of the deceleration.
Uptime matters more than parts cost. Fleet data from Chinese operators running the same e-axle platform shows 96 to 98 percent availability once drivers are trained, versus 92 to 94 percent for diesel trucks of the same age. Keep a small stock of filters, coolant, brake pads and 12V batteries on site; Shaanxi Fenghan Trading quotes a two-year consumables kit with every truck so the first service interval never waits on freight.
Every KTH3 pack carries an 8-year or 4,500-cycle warranty with a 70 percent state-of-health guarantee. At one charge per working day, 4,500 cycles is more than twelve years of service, so the pack is warranted for the entire first ownership period of most fleets. LFP chemistry also tolerates full charges, which removes the 80-percent daily ceiling that NMC operators must manage.
Residual value is the question every CFO asks. Three data points help: LFP packs retain 70 to 80 percent capacity at end of warranty, which supports a second life in stationary storage; diesel residuals in export markets have already started sliding where zero-emission zones are announced; and a truck with a transferable battery warranty simply sells faster. Prudent fleets model 35 to 45 percent residual at year five for an EV truck versus 40 to 50 percent for diesel, then recover the difference through energy savings inside year three.
Range anxiety is a routing problem, not a truck problem. Start with the longest day in your operation, add a 20 percent reserve for detours, heat or payload, and compare it with the 300 km real-world figure. If the worst day fits with margin, the KTH3 covers the whole year on depot charging alone. If one weekly route exceeds the envelope, plan a 30-minute opportunity charge at 120 kW during loading or driver break, which adds roughly 90 km of buffer.
Telematics makes this precise. Run a diesel unit on the route for two weeks with a GPS logger, export speed and idle profiles, and size the EV truck on data rather than brochure numbers. In Uzbekistan, Fenghan Trading supports this analysis remotely and will recommend the smaller pack when it genuinely fits, because an under-spec battery is the only EV truck mistake that cannot be fixed later.
Ready to electrify your fleet? Contact Shaanxi Fenghan Trading — authorized Dongfeng EV truck exporter. WhatsApp: +86 153 1943 1311 | Email: sales@fenghan-trade.com | dongfengevtrucks.com
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