Addressing the heavy-duty climate problem

Summary

Despite making up only 2% of the EU fleet, trucks and buses accounted for 28% of Europe’s road transport CO2 emissions in 2020. The forthcoming 2022 review of the heavy-duty vehicle CO2 standards is the key opportunity to finally put a stop to these growing emissions from trucks and buses. The European Commission is set to unveil its proposal to review the HDV CO2 standards in November 2022. In a new study, T&E has modelled three policy scenarios to assess the climate impact of different levels of ambition for the revision of the HDV CO2 standards. The Central scenario sets a 100% zero-emission target in 2035 for all freight trucks and buses, in line with cars and vans. The Delayed scenario pushes the target back to 2040; and the Accelerated scenario brings it forward to 2030.