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European lawmakers have agreed to in effect ban EU sales of almost all new diesel trucks by 2040 as part of the bloc’s fight against climate change.
MEPs and member states on Thursday agreed the terms of legislation under which manufacturers will have to reduce the average emissions of new HGVs sold in the EU by 45 per cent between 2020 and 2030, increasing to 90 per cent by 2040. The legislation must now be ratified by the European parliament and member states before coming into force.
Europe’s largest truckmakers, including Volvo, Daimler Truck and Scania, pledged three years ago to phase out new diesel sales by the end of the next decade.
However, the industry has warned that the switch to battery-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles is being held up by a lack of charging and refilling infrastructure — a particular challenge for heavy-duty vehicles that would be delayed by long charging times.
They have also called for support to help hauliers switch from diesel models to zero-emission alternatives.
National governments and MEPs put aside the concerns in setting the targets. They also rejected the idea of allowing so-called “e-fuels” made from captured carbon.
Brussels has exempted cars that run on such fuels from a ban on sales of combustion engine models from 2035, following pressure from Germany.
Daimler Truck is among heavy-duty vehicle makers that have already promised to stop selling diesel models before 2040, but the German company said customers needed more incentives to switch.
“As long as there is not sufficient charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure available across Europe, and operating costs of diesel vehicles over the lifecycle are cheaper, the customers will still buy diesel,” it said.
Transport & Environment, a European pressure group, estimates that if the deal is formally approved, 30 per cent of trucks sold in 2030 and at least three-quarters in 2040 would be powered by electricity or hydrogen.
After cars, heavy-duty vehicles are the second-biggest transport polluter in Europe, accounting for a quarter of road transport emissions.
Fedor Unterlohner, freight manager at T&E, said: “The EU is clearly telling truckmakers when almost all their vehicles will need to be zero emissions. European producers now have a clear trajectory to ramp up production of electric and hydrogen rigs and be ready for the challenge posed by [US carmaker] Tesla and Chinese rivals.”
The rules apply to vehicles over five tonnes. Specialist vehicles such as garbage trucks and cement mixers will be exempt until 2035. Urban buses with combustion engines will be banned from 2035.
Tractors and other agricultural vehicles, fire engines and other small volume vehicles are exempt.
ACEA, the industry’s lobby group, said trucks carried 77 per cent of all goods transported by land in the EU. More than 400,000 zero-emission trucks will have to be on the road by 2030 to hit the target.
Sandra Roling, head of transport at the Climate Group, which helps companies go green, said: “It is especially welcome to see that calls to include loopholes for e-fuels — which in effect would prolong the life of the combustion engine and divert funds from zero emission technologies — were resisted.
“This new regulation will stimulate the market for truly zero-emission solutions like electric trucks.”
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