CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles

SUMMARY OF:

Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 implementing Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 – determination of the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

It establishes the rules for issuing licences to operate a simulation tool* with a view to determining CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of new heavy-duty vehicles (lorries, buses and coaches) to be sold, registered or put into service in the European Union (EU). It also establishes rules for operating that simulation tool and declaring the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption values thus determined.
It does so by setting out the responsibilities of motor vehicle manufacturers and national authorities. They must certify the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of vehicle components such as the engine, gearbox, axles and tyres, which are used as input data for a simulation tool to determine the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of the vehicle.
The information is designed to encourage the development of more energy-efficient vehicles.
The regulation implements Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 on type-approval with regard to emissions from heavy-duty vehicles (Euro VI).
Amending Regulation (EU) 2022/1379 extends the determination of CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption to other heavy-duty vehicles, namely medium lorries and heavy buses.

KEY POINTS

The regulation applies:

to medium lorries, heavy lorries and heavy buses;
to base lorries in the case of multi-stage type-approvals or individual approvals of medium and heavy lorries; and
in the case of heavy buses, to primary vehicles (heavy buses in a virtual assembly condition determined for simulation purposes), interim vehicles and complete and completed vehicles.

It does not apply to off-road or special purpose vehicles.

Simulation tool

The European Commission provides for free, and updates, a downloadable software programme for the simulation tool to determine the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles.

Vehicle manufacturers must:

apply for a licence to operate the simulation tool;
inform the national authority issuing the licence of any changes they make to the processes for determining the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of the vehicle;
use the most up-to-date version of the simulation tool (at the latest within 3 months of its availability) to determine the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of every new vehicle sold, registered or put into service in the EU;
ensure the results of the simulation tool respect the processes laid down, and include these in the vehicle’s customer information file;
ensure the manufacturer’s records file, the vehicle information file and the certificates on CO₂emissions and fuel consumption-related properties of the components, systems and separate technical units are stored for at least 20 years after the production of the vehicle and are made available, upon request, to the approval authority and to the Commission.
make records available to national authorities or the Commission within 15 days of a request.

The annexes to the regulation set out the technical procedures for determining the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of components to be input into the simulation tool.

National authorities:

certify the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption values of components submitted by the component manufacturer if they are satisfied that all the requirements have been complied with;
grant a licence to the vehicle manufacturer to operate the simulation tool;
assess four times a year whether the manufacturer’s processes for determining the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption continue to respect the legislation;
instruct manufacturers to correct, within 30 days, any defects in their processes for determining the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

Overall, it has applied since 18 January 2018.

The CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of new heavy-duty vehicles have had to be determined since 1 January 2019.

Amending Regulation (EU) 2022/1379 has applied since 1 July 2022.

However, this regulation applies from 1 January 2024 for the determination of CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of vehicles in groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 4v, 5v, 9v, 10v, 11, 12 and 16 defined in Annex I, Table 1, other than ZE-HDVs, He-HDVs, dual-fuel vehicles and vehicles, the engine of which has been certified with a waste heat recovery system.

BACKGROUND

Emissions from lorries and buses, the most common types of heavy-duty vehicles, account for 25% of road transport CO₂ emissions. They are expected to increase even further.
Effective measures are needed to reach the EU target of a 60% cut in CO₂ transport emissions by 2050.
Previously, no common EU-wide method existed to determine the vehicles’ CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption, making objective comparisons of their performance impossible and preventing efforts to introduce national or EU measures to encourage more energy-efficient vehicles.
For further information, see:
- Reducing CO₂ emissions from heavy-duty vehicles (European Commission).

KEY TERMS

Simulation tool. An electronic tool for the calculation of CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of new heavy-duty vehicles, based on certified input data for the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of their components.

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 of 12 December 2017 implementing Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the determination of the CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles and amending Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EU) No 582/2011 (OJ L 349, 29.12.2017, pp. 1–247).

Successive amendments to Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 have been incorporated into the original document. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles