IAA Transportation (15–20 September, Hanover) is the biennial moment when the truck industry shows its hand, and the 2026 edition lands at an unusually legible point in the transition: electric trucks at 4.8% of EU registrations and climbing, the −45% compliance cliff fixed at 2030, Chinese entrants operational rather than hypothetical, and two infrastructure camps — megawatt charging and battery swap — openly competing for the standard.

Three storylines will dominate. First, the Chinese offensive, led by SANY’s promised “big splash”: new models, 2027 previews and — the detail procurement teams should hunt for — a European list price or a named lighthouse fleet, either of which would change the company’s scorecard position overnight. Watch also whether XCMG, Hongyan and others put dates on their homologation pipelines. Second, the incumbents’ counter: expect Mercedes, Volvo, MAN and DAF to answer with megawatt-charging readiness, longer-range variants and total-cost-of-ownership packages rather than raw spec escalation — their defence is the ecosystem (network, financing, residuals), not the battery. Third, infrastructure on the main stage: Milence will showcase corridor progress, and the CATL–Octopus Swaptopus venture will use the show to court European fleets and policymakers for swap. The standard fight — proprietary swap versus open megawatt charging — is now a procurement question, not an engineering one.

For a fleet attending with a purchase agenda, our floor plan advice is unglamorous: skip the concept vehicles, book 30 minutes at each relevant OEM’s commercial stand with your duty-cycle data in hand, and ask every manufacturer the same five questions (type-approval date, written battery warranty with SoH floor, binding quote validity, workshop map on your corridors, two reference customers). The truck that wins your route is the one whose answers survive the drive home.

WattTonne will report from Hanover daily during press and public days — vehicle launches scored against our seven dimensions, pricing news, and the infrastructure announcements that matter. The pre-show briefing goes to newsletter subscribers the week before the show.

What to watch

Whether any Chinese OEM publishes European list pricing at the show — the single highest-signal data point Hanover can produce this year.