The Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) of the European Parliament will determine its position on CO2 standards for eTrucks in the coming days.
As exclusively confirmed to Mobility Portal Europe, the regulation will be voted on Tuesday, October 24.
Through this regulation, the European Commission aims to relax the regulations concerning the weight and dimensions of electric trucks.
In order to achieve a reduction of emissions from 30% to 45% by 2030, a reduction of 65% by 2035, and 90% by 2040, manufacturers are required to incorporate electric or hydrogen trucks into their production.
This will result in heavy vehicles being allowed an additional weight of up to 2 tonnes.
In response, the European Union seeks to permit an additional weight of four tonnes on these vehicles, thereby raising the limit to 44 tonnes.
This would ensure that trucks are not forced to reduce their load on long-distance routes, which require larger capacity batteries.
This is crucial because current regulations do not adequately consider the practical implications of zero-emission technologies, which can be heavier and require more space.
The goal is to allow for larger electric trucks and harmonize regulations across countries to transport the same cargo volume in fewer trips.
Meanwhile, the EU Environmental Council approved the Regulation on CO2 standards for heavy vehicles this week, a crucial component of the “FitFor55” package.
This regulation stipulates that as of 2035, urban buses must be emissions-free, while the road transport system must be virtually emissions-free by 2040.
It is expected that the European Parliament Plenary will make its decision on Monday, November 20.
What’s happening with the Spanish eTruck market?
According to the “Industrial Vehicle and Bus Roadmap” developed by the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC), in 2022, only 0.7% of registered models were electric.
For industrial vehicles over 16 tonnes, the electrification rate was 0.4%, with 78 units sold out of a total of 20,363.
However, between January and August 2023, this figure has increased to 1.3%.
This means that over 90% of goods are transported by industrial vehicles.
In this context, Wayne Griffiths, President of ANFAC, states: “Besides setting demanding targets, the necessary conditions must be provided.”
To achieve this, “it is essential to propose a set of realistic measures that support the sector in reducing emissions without losing competitiveness.”
He emphasizes that, “Setting goals is easy. The challenge lies in designing effective measures with sufficient resources. 600,000 jobs and the survival of thousands of companies are at stake.“
The industry association has requested the extension of the Plan Moves MITMA, which provides assistance for the purchase of electrified heavy vehicles, currently set to end in April 2024.
ANFAC has called for its extension until the end of 2026 and the design of a new plan that includes improvements, such as providing funds at the time of purchase.
They also consider the development of energy supply infrastructure as necessary because it “is a prerequisite for the circulation of vehicles with new technologies.”
Currently, Spain has approximately 22,000 charging points, with 317 of them rated at or above 150 kW.
Finally, ANFAC has emphasized that transport fleets have a significantly high aging process, with an average age of 14.7 years for trucks.
