EU Parliament adopts 90% phase-out of new diesel trucks by 2040

Average emissions of new trucks will have to be reduced by 90% by 2040, compared to 2019, the European Parliament decided on Wednesday (10 April), adopting a law that will drastically reduce the number of new diesel trucks.

The European Parliament voted in favour of a draft law that will reduce average carbon emissions of new heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) by 45% as of 2030, 65% as of 2035 and 90% as of 2040.

This will see the number of zero-emission vehicles, such as battery-electric and hydrogen-fuelled trucks, boosted, while the number of diesel trucks will have to be drastically reduced. In 2023, diesel trucks still accounted for 96% of all new truck sales.

For city buses, rules are even stricter, and include a complete phase-out of new diesel vehicles by 2035.

“The transition towards zero-emission trucks and buses is not only key to meeting our climate targets, but also a crucial driver for cleaner air in our cities,” the parliament’s chief negotiator Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA) said in a statement.

“We are providing clarity for one of the major manufacturing industries in Europe and a strong incentive to invest in electrification and hydrogen,” he added.

The law was passed with 341 votes in favour, 268 votes against and 14 abstentions.

Next to Eickhout’s Greens/EFA, majorities of the centre-left S&D group, liberal Renew as well as the Left Group voted in favour, while majorities of centre-right EPP, nationalist ECR and far-right ID groups voted against the new rules.

Most large truck manufacturers have backed the targets, with Martin Lundstedt, CEO of the Volvo Group, calling them “tough but feasible” in an interview with Euractiv last week.

Lundstedt stressed that while manufacturers would be ready to supply the necessary zero-emission vehicles, incentives for the uptake of such trucks would also need to be strengthened, notably by increasing diesel prices through carbon pricing.

The necessary charging and hydrogen fuelling infrastructure was also needed, he added, something the EU wants to boost through a law obliging member states to build truck charging stations every 60 kilometres and hydrogen refuelling stations every 200 kilometres across EU main roads by 2030.

Carbon pricing crucial to deliver on greening transport, Volvo boss says

The implementation of the EU’s carbon pricing scheme for road transport is crucial to drive the business case for electric and hydrogen trucks, Martin Lundstedt, CEO of the Volvo Group, told Euractiv in an interview.

Ministers of EU countries still need to formally approve the draft law – informal negotiations for which were concluded in January – before it enters into force, but a majority is expected after the text passed an informal ‘test vote’ amongst EU ambassadors in February. 

Ahead of the test vote, German transport minister Volker Wissing (FDP/Renew Europe) had threatened to withdraw support for the law as it would not leave sufficient room for trucks running on alternative liquid fuels, such as biofuels or synthetic e-fuels. 

Wissing was swayed, however, after the European Commission committed to developing a new category of trucks running exclusively on climate-neutral e-fuels, which would continue to be allowed even beyond 2040.

A non-binding explanatory paragraph was added to the legal text. This follows the example of its ‘sister law’, the CO2 standards for cars. This new law will de facto ban the sale of new combustion engine vehicles as of 2035, but includes a planned exemption for e-fuel-only cars.

For German MEP Jens Gieseke, chief negotiator for centre-right EPP group, this was however not a sufficient solution. “This law does not include a guarantee that vehicles running on CO2-neutral fuels can be registered in the future,” Gieseke wrote on X. 

“This law needs to be reviewed again shortly after the European elections,” he added.

Environmental campaigners, in contrast, welcomed the adoption of the law.

“The trucking industry, Europe’s second largest contributor to transport CO2 emissions, is about to experience a transformative shift,” Felipe Rodríguez, director for heavy-duty vehicles at the International Council of Clean Transportation (ICCT), said in a statement.

“What seemed inconceivable just years ago is now the unequivocal path forward,” he added.

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Alice Taylor]

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