This brand wants to revolutionise Australia's commercial vehicle sector

Foton is out to revolutionise the commercial vehicle segment in Australia, one electrified truck at a time.

The commercial vehicle manufacturer – which is China’s largest in the sector – announced on Friday it has a steady pipeline of electric vehicles earmarked for Australia over the coming years and hasn't ruled out hydrogen.

It also announced a brand-new, industry-first eight-year/400,000km warranty for its electric range. Foton Australian CEO Neil Wang said this reflect the brands commitment to Australia and addresses key concerns around lifespan and residual values for the electric commercial sector.

“We want to become the major distributor of electric and hydrogen commercial vehicles in Australia,” said Wang.

“Traditional truck brands are a little bit slow to bring quality EV trucks to market… It's our job as Foton Mobility Distribution to pick the best products we can find, bring them to Australia and provide local support for them.”

Wang said the reason Foton has such confidence in introducing an eight year warranty is due to the last 18 months of servicing records, along with support from battery supplier CATL, which provides parts for brands such as Tesla, Volkswagen and BMW.

Foton is an authorised service agent for CATL and its electric T5 light truck — the only one that can be driven on a car licence — carries an 81.4kWh battery pack.

Since Foton introduced its first electric truck to the Australian market in 2022, it has sold 220 examples, largely to commercial fleet customers such as Woolworths, Bunnings and Mainfreight.

The brand is confident it will expand its lineup next year, with key distributors such as Coles and Woolworths set to gradually convert their combined fleets of 2500 trucks to EVs by 2030.

2025 Foton T5 light truck EV

Foton’s T5, which the brand maintains is ideal for urban use, accounts for about 10 per cent of the Woolworths fleet.

Having said that, challenges persist around ensuring customers, particularly tradespeople and small business owners, perceive an electric truck as value for money given its comparatively low range to diesel and high upfront costs.

The 4,500kg GVM T5 cab chassis cargo box truck, for example, is priced at $139,450 (before on-road costs and GST) and the brand claims a range of just 180km.

For comparison, the diesel-powered Isuzu N-series equivalent, Australia’s most popular light commercial model, starts at $90,024 (before on-road costs).

It’s an issue the brand is acutely aware of, but one that will gradually improve as battery technology advances and government regulation begins to fall in line, says Foton.

“We all know the price gap is quite significant, that’s still got to be covered. But what’s happening now is many building sites and government [contracted] businesses are saying, ‘not now, but pretty soon, you won’t be able to [drive] on some of our sites without a zero emissions ute or light truck,’” said Bill Gillespie, General Manager of Light Vehicles.

2025 Foton T5 light truck EV

Foton also believes long-term savings on diesel fuel in the first three years will make the initial cost outlay, at least for commercial freight companies, equitable to purchasing a diesel vehicle.

“We are here to try and help businesses with what they really need. If their business case is not good for EV, we will tell them EV is not the best solution, maybe wait for the hydrogen vehicle to come,” said Wang.

The brand’s longer-range hydrogen-powered T5 truck is already available in China and offers a range of 500 km, although it is not expected in Australia for the foreseeable future due to cost concerns and a slow rollout of hydrogen fuel cell infrastructure.

Foton is expected to announce several more additions to its line-up next year at the Brisbane truck show, including a new instalment of the T5 truck which is expected to be a fraction lighter than the current model, potentially offering a bump in range.

The brand will not distribute the diesel-powered Foton Tunland ute, which is poised for release in Australia in the near future through a distribution partnership with Inchcape.