CO₂ emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles

KEY POINTS

Emissions reduction targets

The regulation sets a binding CO₂ reduction target for new heavy-duty vehicles of:

• from 2025 onwards: 15% reduction
• from 2030 onwards: 30% reduction

The reference period for these reductions shall be 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.

Incentives for zero-emission and low-emission vehicles

• Introduces a dedicated mechanism in the form of super credits for the reporting periods from 2019 to 2024 and a benchmark-based crediting system for the share of zero- and low-emission heavy-duty vehicles in a manufacturer’s fleet from 2025 onwards, with a benchmark set at 2%.
• System is designed to ensure investment certainty for charging infrastructure providers and manufacturers to promote the rapid deployment of zero- and low-emission heavy-duty vehicles on the EU market, while allowing manufacturers certain flexibility in their investments.
• The system excludes buses and coaches because they are covered by other incentive measures.

Reliability of data

• The European Commission will ensure that the reference CO₂ emissions are robust and representative as a basis for calculating the EU fleet-wide CO₂ emission targets.
• The Commission will monitor and assess the real-world representativeness of the CO₂ emissions and energy consumption values of heavy-duty vehicles. It will use on-board fuel and/or energy consumption monitoring devices, starting with new heavy-duty vehicles registered from the date of application of the measures.
• It will introduce in-service conformity testing and mandate the reporting of deviations and the introduction of a correction measure.

Penalties

• The Commission will impose a financial penalty, in the form of an excess CO₂ emissions premium, on manufacturers found to have excess CO₂ emissions, taking into account emission credits and emission debts.
• To encourage manufacturers to take measures to reduce the specific CO₂ emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, the premium must exceed the average marginal costs of the technologies needed to meet the CO₂ emissions targets.

Review

By the end of 2022, the Commission must present a report on among other things:

• the effectiveness of the regulation;
• the CO₂ emission reduction target and the level of the incentive mechanism for low- and zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles applicable from 2030;
• the setting of CO₂ emission reduction targets for other types of heavy-duty vehicles, including smaller trailers, buses, coaches and professional vehicles;
• the introduction of binding CO₂ emission reduction targets for heavy-duty vehicles for 2035 and 2040 onwards.

From when does it apply?

It has applied since 14 August 2019.