Trucks and buses are heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), accounting for 6% of total EU emissions. The truck CO₂ standards are key to bring down emissions from new vehicles by shifting to zero-emission powertrains, such as battery-electric or fuel cell.
Trucks have often been considered a hard to abate sector. While this is no longer the case, decarbonising Europe’s heavy duty vehicles will require policy focus to ensure that truck makers deliver on zero-emission technology and the infrastructure is there to power them.
Going electric is one of the few zero-emission solutions available to decarbonise heavy-duty vehicles. By 2030, long distance battery electric trucks will be cheaper than diesel trucks should they drive more than 300 km in a day. For long-haul routes, charging times can be synchronised with mandated 45-minute short rests every 4h30.
Hydrogen trucks are projected to be the most expensive option in all periods except for in some use cases in countries with high average daily distances.
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Images and video: Adobe Stock
Scope: EU+UK. For the 3 numbers on top of the page: TNO, UNFCCC and ACEA