Position paper – Review of CO2 emission standards regulation for heavy-duty vehicles

Position paper – Review of CO2 emission standards regulation for heavy-duty vehicles

ACEA — 2023-03-30

News from Brussels

In this paper, ACEA sets out the industry’s key messages on the proposed review of the regulation on CO2 reduction targets for heavy-duty vehicles, published by the European Commission in 2023 February. This legislative review proposes to strengthen existing target levels for trucks to -45% in 2030, -65% in 2035 and -90% in 2040.

In 2019, the European Union set CO2 reduction standards for heavy-duty vehicles. These standards require manufacturers to reduce the average fleet emissions of new vehicles in certain regulated vehicle groups by 15% (by 2025) and 30% (by 2030), compared to a 2019/2020 baseline.

These targets have triggered massive investments in zero-emission technologies and entail a profound restructuring of the commercial vehicle industry. This also impacts partners and customers in the transport and logistics value chain.

In order to comply with the targets, manufacturers depend heavily on policymakers and other industry sectors (such as providers of charging and refuelling infrastructure) living up to the same ambition level.

ACEA’s truck and bus manufacturers are strongly committed to providing the right vehicles to move Europe’s road transport industry to fossil-free solutions by 2040, with a focus on battery-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. However, commercial road transport is a B2B market that is driven by demand. Hauliers and operators invest in vehicles based on profitability considerations.

Ensuring that the conditions are in place so that transport operators will invest in – and can profitably operate – zero-emission vehicles is even more important than setting fleet emission targets for vehicle manufacturers. Europe should therefore aim for a pragmatic, progressive and technology-neutral approach that encourages scalable solutions, and which can serve as the global pacesetter for decarbonising road transport.

In this paper, ACEA sets out the industry’s key messages on the proposed review of the regulation on CO2 reduction targets for heavy-duty vehicles.

Key messages

1. World-leading CO2 targets require world-leading enabling conditions
2. The current state of enabling conditions is insufficient to meet even the existing 30% reduction target
3. An annual review of key enabling conditions is necessary
4. Proposed target levels for new vehicle groups from a 2025 baseline are unrealistic
5. Provisions for buses and coaches need to be adjusted
6. Flexibilities are necessary to mitigate uncertainties of the transition
7. Commercial vehicle manufacturers are committed to go fossil-free by 2040
8. Ambition levels for Euro 7 HDV and CO2 HDV must be aligned
9. The global competitiveness of the European commercial vehicle industry must be maintained

Downloads

ACEA position paper – Review of CO2 emission standards regulation for HDVs