The updated rules will further reduce CO2 emissions from road transport and will introduce new targets for 2030, 2035 and 2040. According to the EC, more robust standards for CO2 emissions will help increase the share of zero-emission vehicles in the heavy-duty vehicle fleet across the EU, while ensuring that innovation in and the competitiveness of the sector are preserved and enhanced.

Under the revised rules, the scope of the existing regulation will be expanded to make almost all new heavy-duty vehicles with certified CO2 emissions – including smaller trucks, urban buses, coaches and trailers – subject to emission reduction targets. The new rules maintain the existing 2025 target currently set at a 15% emissions reduction for heavy lorries weighing more than 16 tonnes.

In line with the EU’s climate objectives for 2030 and beyond, the regulation further establishes a 45% emissions reduction from 2030 (increased from 30%); a 65% emissions reduction from 2035,; and a 90% emissions reduction from 2040. These targets will apply to medium lorries, heavy trucks weighing more than 7.5 tonnes and coaches, as well as to corresponding vocational vehicles from 2035 onwards.

What’s more, the new rules introduce a 100% zero-emission target for new urban buses by 2035, with an intermediate target of 90% for this category by 2030. Inter-urban buses will be exempt from the target, as they will be regarded as coaches for the purposes of measuring emissions reduction. The regulation will now be signed and published in the Official Journal of the EU. It will enter into force 20 days after its publication.

The effectiveness and impact of the amended regulation will be reviewed by the EC in 2027. Among other things, the EC will also have to evaluate the possibility of developing a common methodology for the assessment and reporting of the full lifecycle CO2 emissions of new heavy-duty vehicles. The heavy-duty vehicle sector is reportedly responsible for more than 25% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from road transport in the EU.

CO2 emission standards for certain heavy-duty vehicles were set for the first time in 2019, with targets for 2025 to 2029 and for 2030 onwards, with provision for a review of the regulation by 2022. On 14 February 2023, the EC submitted a proposal for a revision of the CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

The revision is regarded by Brussels an integral part of the Fit for 55 legislative package, contributing to the EU’s aim of reducing its net GHG emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The impact of stricter CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles within a tolling context was discussed and debated in detail at this year’s Road User Charging Conference, which took place on the 05-06 March 2024 at the Steigenberger Wiltcher’s hotel in Brussels, Belgium.

For an overview of what was said, read the official review of the conference here. In addition, a full and in-depth report and technical analysis of Road User Charging Conference 2024 can be pre-ordered via www.aurorainsights.co.uk or by contacting research@aurorainsights.co.uk. Aurora Insights’ first tolling-industry report, Highway Robbery: Insights into the Effect of Electric Vehicles on Road User Charging, is available to purchase now.

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