A realistic approach that reflects the diversity of the market for heavy-duty vehicles – that is what the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) called for, on Wednesday 2 May, for the very first CO2 emission targets for heavy-duty vehicles. These are expected by the European Commission mid-May as part of the third package on clean mobility.
“As this is the first time that CO2 targets are set for heavy-duty vehicles, it is of utmost importance that they are designed properly”, ACEA underlines, pointing out that heavy-duty vehicles are tailor made.
The ACEA believes that a realistic level of ambition would be a 16% tail-pipe CO2 reduction between 2019 and 2030, with an intermediate target of 7% in 2025.
Given that, after 2019, all manufacturers of heavy-duty vehicles in the EU will be using the same calculation tool (VECTO) to declare and report emissions (see EUROPE 11990), the ACEA deems that future CO2 targets should be based on that data. In addition, it considers that targets should focus on the vehicle as a whole and not just its components (gear box, engine, etc.).
For now, a proposal on a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system for new heavy-duty vehicles (see EUROPE 11990) and a draft regulation on CO2 emissions standards post-2020 for new cars and vans are already on the table of the Council and the European Parliament (see EUROPE 11952). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)