China's exports of heavy electric trucks more than doubled year on year to 16,823 vehicles in the four months after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on February 28, as Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz drove diesel prices sharply higher across South and Southeast Asia and improved the economics of electrification. Half of those exports went to South and Southeast Asia, with shipments to South Asia rising more than fivefold and those to Southeast Asia nearly tripling. Diesel prices have risen 48% in Sri Lanka and 57% in the Philippines since the start of the war, compared with a 15% increase in China. Sany said buyer payback periods in some export markets have shortened to 18 months from 28 months, the company is pivoting from Europe toward Southeast Asia, and it expects rapid export growth to continue for at least another year. Electric trucks reached 30% of China's truck sales last year, with 140,000 sold in the first half of this year, while CREA estimates the domestic fleet will displace oil demand equivalent to 141 million barrels and exported trucks from the first half will replace fuel at an annual rate of 1.6 million barrels, even as high upfront costs and charging gaps remain obstacles.