BRUSSELS—CALSTART’s Drive to Zero™ program is applauding the EU for putting stringent CO2 heavy-duty vehicle emissions standards into effect after final ratification by the Council of the European Union, which happened today.

The regulations will be enforced on new trucks, buses, and trailers with a goal of achieving a 90 percent emissions reduction by 2040.

The regulations state that carbon emissions from large trucks and buses, including vocational vehicles, will have to be reduced by 45 percent from 2030, 65 percent from 2035, and 90 percent from 2040. New urban buses will need emissions reduced by 90 percent by 2030 and become zero-emission vehicles by 2035. The Commission will conduct a review in 2027 to evaluate the effectiveness of the new regulations.

Prior to the vote, a joint letter by businesses was sent to the EU Council urging them to commit to the standards and stating that the transport agreement would help “contribute to Europe’s industrial competitiveness, economic prosperity, and climate-neutral future.”

“ChargePoint welcomes the formal adoption of the CO2 emissions regulation for heavy-duty vehicles by the European Parliament, as this piece of legislation will help create long-term regulatory and investment certainty in heavy-duty fleet electrification,” said Jayson Dong, Senior Manager, Public Policy – EU, DACH, and Italy, ChargePoint. “It also plays a key role in ensuring that OEMs roll out the mass amount of e-trucks needed in the coming years to match demand as well as support Europe’s overarching climate ambitions.”

This landmark move will not only advance the adoption of zero-emission vehicles across Europe but will also have a global effect, as many main truck manufacturers are based in the EU.

“The EU has taken a major leap forward today in combating the climate crisis by ensuring new heavy-duty vehicles will increasingly be zero-emission, thus improving air quality for local communities across Europe,” said Sita Holtslag, Europe Director, CALSTART’s Drive to Zero program. “This move sends a strong message to all countries around the world that vehicle emissions reductions are possible with strong policies and action.”

About Drive to Zero
Drive to Zero is a program of clean transportation accelerator CALSTART and an official campaign of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). Drive to Zero and its partners are helping top global government officials and private-sector innovators reach an ambitious goal of 100 percent new zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales by the year 2040 under the Global Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles. The Global MOU is working to accelerate the decarbonization of commercial vehicles through global partnerships, innovative tools, groundbreaking research, and education.