A group of 44 corporations and organizations is putting pressure on the EU to allow only zero-emission new trucks from 2035, with a five-year exemption for company trucks.
This is feasible from a technical and economic point of view and provides investment security for the industry, says the letter to the EU Commission published by "The Climate Group." It is signed by Henkel, Siemens, PepsiCo, Unilever and Maersk, among others. The letter says the move is necessary to completely replace the fossil fuel-powered vehicle fleet in time for the 2050 climate neutrality target. After all, most trucks would remain on European roads for an average of 18 years.
A zero-emissions target for new trucks in 2035 would give vehicle manufacturers investment certainty to expand their range of electric vehicles and green hydrogen, the companies write. Major truck makers have already announced that half of their sales will be zero-emission by 2030, but binding rules are needed to ensure that the investment and expansion of supply happens in time. A five-year longer deadline should apply to some niche vehicle categories, such as construction vehicles, as they need more time for development and deployment. The EU Commission will publish its proposal for new CO2 targets for trucks in the coming months.
At the same time, higher CO2 reduction targets for truck manufacturers of -30% in 2027 and -65% in 2030 are also needed to ensure that the supply of clean trucks increases in the second half of this decade, the companies write. The EU Commission should resist calls to include a fuel crediting system in truck CO2 targets, they say, as this would not help solve the heavy-duty vehicle emissions problem and would mix different types of legislation and undermine their effectiveness. Trucks currently account for only 2% of road vehicles, according to the European Environment Agency , but are responsible for more than a quarter of CO2 emissions from EU road transport.
Source: Transport & Environment