Recently, the European Commission has proposed to relax the common regulations concerning the weight and dimensions of electric trucks.
In this way, it aims to allow an additional weight of four tonnes on these vehicles, thereby raising the limit to 44 tonnes.
Within this framework, sources close to the industry anticipate to Mobility Portal Europe that “it is expected that the Council may agree on its General Approach on October 16th.”
Meanwhile, the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament (ENVI) would do so on October 23rd.
The plenary session of the European Parliament will make its decision in November, on a date yet to be determined.
This comes in the context of the goals set by the EU to reduce CO2 emissions.
It is stipulated that by 2030, each truck manufacturer must increase the emissions reduction from 30% to 45%. Meanwhile, by 2035, a reduction of 65% is expected, and from 2040 onwards, 90%.
Once the law comes into effect, electric or hydrogen trucks could have an additional weight of up to 2 tonnes.
These new limits would ensure that vehicles are not forced to reduce their load on long-distance routes, which require batteries with greater capacity.
The regulation is being revised because they consider the incentives to improve the energy efficiency of road transport operations and reduce CO2 emissions to be insufficient.
They also explain that the existing regulations do not adequately reflect the practical implications of using new zero-emission technologies.
These technologies can have greater weight and occupy more space compared to combustion engine technologies.
Therefore, allowing larger electric trucks and harmonizing regulations between countries would facilitate transporting the same volume of cargo in fewer trips.
As a result, this would contribute to a more sustainable transportation system.
E-trucks are at risk of losing 11% of the market
Members of Transport & Environment (T&E) staged a protest outside the European Parliament as part of their “Your Heavy Duty” campaign.
The purpose of this campaign is to urge EU lawmakers to pressure domestic industries to increase the availability of electric heavy vehicles and prepare for international competition.
According to a statement sent by T&E to Portal Movilidad España, European truck manufacturers could lose 11% of the EU market to international competitors by 2035.
Forecasts from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) suggest that the demand for zero-emission trucks in the EU will rapidly increase to reach 55% of sales by 2030.
However, they argue that CO2 emissions regulations for these vehicles pose a risk for European manufacturers to meet this demand.
Meanwhile, lawmakers must set “more ambitious” targets to prevent what is happening in the car market.
“European car companies that were slow to electrify are now facing increased competition in the EU from Chinese manufacturers,” they highlight.
Among the examples mentioned by the association are BYD and Tesla, who already have a significant share of the European market.
This is reflected in the registration figures of recent months.
Finally, Carlos Bravo, a representative of T&E, emphasizes: “To maintain their dominance in the domestic market, European truck manufacturers need to transition to electricity more quickly.”
