EU Truckmakers Seek Three-Year Delay to 2030 CO2 Targets

Europe’s largest truck and bus manufacturers have called on the European Union to postpone compliance with its 2030 CO2 reduction requirements for heavy-duty vehicles by three years, warning that the infrastructure and economic conditions needed to support large-scale zero-emission truck adoption remain significantly behind schedule.

The request was made by the chief executives of seven major European truck and bus manufacturers, including DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ford Otosan, Iveco Group, MAN Truck & Bus, Scania Group and Volvo Group. The executives raised their concerns during the IAA Transportation event in Hanover, according to industry statements and Reuters.

Under the EU’s revised CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles, manufacturers face increasingly stringent fleet-average emissions requirements from 2030. The European Commission describes the headline target as a 45% reduction in average CO2 emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles from 2030, followed by reductions of 65% from 2035 and 90% from 2040 compared with the applicable reference periods. Technical provisions in the regulation translate the 2030 requirement into a 43% reduction factor for several individual truck categories.

Manufacturers that exceed their permitted emissions levels can face financial penalties. Recent changes to the rules provide some additional flexibility by allowing manufacturers to accumulate emissions credits between 2025 and 2029 when their fleet emissions outperform the applicable legal target. However, the industry says this mechanism does not address the underlying challenges affecting demand for zero-emission trucks.

Zero-Emission Truck Uptake Remains Low

The central issue raised by manufacturers is the gap between regulatory targets and current market adoption.

According to ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, zero-emission vehicles currently account for around 2.4% of new heavy-duty vehicle registrations. That remains far below the level that manufacturers believe will be necessary to comply with the 2030 standards.

Previous ACEA estimates suggested that approximately one-third of new truck sales would need to be zero-emission by the end of the decade. The association has estimated that Europe would require roughly 400,000 zero-emission trucks on the road by 2030, with annual registrations reaching about 100,000 units.

The challenge is increasingly shifting from vehicle availability to purchasing decisions by transport companies.

European manufacturers have introduced battery-electric and hydrogen-powered models across a growing range of applications, including urban distribution, regional transport and long-haul operations. However, freight operators typically base purchasing decisions on total cost of ownership, vehicle utilization, payload capacity, charging availability and operational reliability rather than vehicle technology alone.

Higher vehicle acquisition costs, electricity prices, financing conditions and uncertainty around charging infrastructure can therefore slow fleet replacement even when suitable vehicles are commercially available.

Charging and Grid Connections Remain Major Constraints

Truckmakers are calling on European and national policymakers to accelerate deployment of heavy-duty charging infrastructure, shorten waiting times for grid connections and create stronger financial incentives for operators to switch away from diesel.

The EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation already requires substantial expansion of charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure along the Trans-European Transport Network.

By 2030, core TEN-T routes are expected to have heavy-duty charging pools at intervals of approximately 60 kilometers, with each location providing at least 3,600 kW of combined charging capacity. Hydrogen refueling stations are also expected at intervals of no more than 200 kilometers along the core network.

The industry argues that deployment is still insufficient.

ACEA estimated in late 2025 that Europe had only around 1,100 public charging points rated at 350 kW or above that were suitable for heavy-duty trucks. It estimates that approximately 50,000 publicly accessible truck chargers could be needed by 2030, including around 35,000 Megawatt Charging System units.

Private depot charging will also be critical, but logistics operators can face lengthy grid connection procedures or substantial costs for upgrading electricity capacity at warehouses and distribution centers.

Truckmakers Want Stronger Demand-Side Policies

The manufacturers are not only seeking additional charging infrastructure. They have called for wider use of CO2-based road tolls, faster grid permitting and greater reinvestment of carbon-pricing revenues into zero-emission transport.

They also argue that regulations governing truck weights and dimensions need to accommodate the additional weight associated with batteries without significantly reducing payload capacity. ACEA has warned that insufficient allowances could weaken the commercial case for electric trucks in some applications.

Carbon pricing is another factor. The industry wants revenues generated through emissions trading and road charging to support charging infrastructure and vehicle adoption, reducing the cost difference between zero-emission and conventional diesel trucks.

The debate illustrates the different dynamics involved in decarbonizing commercial vehicles compared with passenger cars. Trucks are productive assets, and fleet operators closely evaluate fuel or electricity costs, payload, route suitability, downtime and financing before replacing vehicles.

A Broader Test for EU Transport Policy

Any three-year postponement would represent a significant adjustment to one of the EU’s central road transport decarbonization measures.

Heavy-duty vehicles are particularly important to the bloc’s climate strategy. Trucks, buses and coaches have historically represented around a quarter of EU road transport CO2 emissions, making the sector an important part of efforts to reduce overall transport emissions.

Recent data nevertheless show some progress. The European Commission reported that average specific CO2 emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles in the 2023 reporting period were 11.4% below 2019 levels, bringing the industry closer to the existing 15% reduction requirement applying before the much steeper 2030 target.

The dispute is therefore increasingly about the pace of the next stage rather than the overall direction of travel.

Truck manufacturers say they remain committed to zero-emission vehicles but argue that compliance cannot depend solely on vehicle supply when charging networks, electricity grids, operating costs and customer demand are determined by a wider ecosystem.

For policymakers, delaying the deadline could reduce short-term pressure on manufacturers and freight operators but could also slow investment signals for charging networks, batteries and clean transport infrastructure.

The debate over the 2030 target will therefore be an important test of how the EU balances industrial competitiveness and commercial realities with its longer-term objective of substantially reducing emissions from road freight.

Source: www.reuters.com