Archive
Apr 2025
Amendments to EU Regulation on Heavy Vehicle CO2 Emissions Determination Published
On February 20, 2025, the European Commission published an EU Amending Regulation, (EU) 2025/258, which introduces amendments to the EU Regulation on the determination of the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of medium and heavy trucks and heavy buses; (EU) 2017/2400. The amendments introduced by (EU) 2025/258 are predominantly to cover new technologies that are being developed and deployed to improve the CO2 emissions performance and fuel consumption of heavy duty vehicles, such as hydrogen fuelled vehicles, vehicles fitted with high efficiency 'wheel ends', vehicles equipped with multiple drivetrains which are capable of operating independently and vehicles which are capable of recharging whilst they are in motion.
Mar 2025
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Issue a Final Rule (FR) for two new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs) for Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
The NHTSA issued a Final Rule (FR) establishing regulatory requirements for Light and Heavy Vehicles that are powered by hydrogen. The new rules are based on Global Technical Regulation (GTR) 13. Mandatory compliance is scheduled for September 1, 2028.
Feb 2025
Updates to UN ECE Regulation on Quiet Road Transport Vehicles Published
On January 10, 2025, an 02 Series of Amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 138 on Quiet Road Transport Vehicles (QRTV) with regard to their reduced audibility came into force. The changes introduced by this 02 Series of Amendments are predominantly to address 'deficiencies' in the Regulation that have been identified during its application over the past few years. The amendments are intended to provide greater clarity of the applicable requirements and to ensure greater consistency in their application.
Jan 2025
Updates to the EU General Safety Regulation Proposed
On December 11, 2024, the European Commission published a draft EU Delegated Regulation specifying amendments to the European Union’s General Safety Regulation; (EU) 2019/2144. This draft Delegated Regulation updates the “Series of Amendment” level for a number of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Regulations specified within (EU) 2019/2144 and also adds references to three new UN ECE Regulations; UN ECE Regulation No. 167 on direct vision from heavy duty vehicles, UN ECE Regulation No. 169 on event data recorders for heavy duty vehicles and UN ECE Regulation No. 171 on driver control assistance systems (DCAS).
Dec 2024
Updated Chinese Standard on the Fuel Consumption Limits for Heavy Duty Vehicles Published
The Chinese government have recently published an updated version of the Chinese Standard on the maximum permissible fuel consumption limits for heavy duty vehicles, GB 30510-2024, which specifies fuel consumption limits for all types of heavy duty vehicle that are around 10% lower than the limits specified in the previous version of this Standard. In addition to these reduced fuel consumption limits, the updated standard also introduces criteria to define the variations in vehicle specification that are permitted within a vehicle type and a formula for converting fuel consumption values, in L/100km, into CO2 emissions values, in g/km.
Nov 2024
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding Pedestrian Protection
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the September 19, 2024 Federal Register (F.R. Vol. 89, No. 182; NHTSA-2024-0057). Data indicates pedestrian fatalities increasing substantially in recent years. This NPRM would ensure that passenger vehicles are designed to reduce the risk of serious to fatal child and adult head injury in pedestrian crashes. The new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 228, Pedestrian Head Protection, would apply to passenger cars, light trucks (including pickups), Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles (MPVs) (MPVs include Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), crossover vehicles and vans) and buses with a GVWR of 4,536kg (10,000lb) or less. The standard would require vehicles to meet a Head Injury Criterion (HIC) when subjected to testing simulating a head-to-hood impact. The vehicles would have to reduce the risk of serious to fatal head injury to child and adult pedestrians in impacts at vehicle speeds up to 40km/h (25mph), which encompass about 70% of pedestrian injuries from vehicle impacts. It is expected the standard would be beneficial even at higher speeds.
Oct 2024
New UN ECE Regulation on Driver Control Assistance Systems Published
A new United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Regulation on Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS), UN ECE Regulation No. 171-00, came into force on September 22, 2024. Work on developing this new Regulation began in 2021, when the UN ECE World Forum for the Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) noted that such systems were beginning to become available on the market, but that no specific Regulations existed to cover their specification and performance. This new Regulation defines Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS) as a combination of "hardware and software collectively capable of assisting a driver in controlling the longitudinal and lateral motion of the vehicle on a sustained basis" and specifies technical and performance requirements that DCAS must comply with, along with specific test procedures to confirm that vehicles equipped with DCAS comply with the specified requirements.
Sep 2024
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Issues Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Revise Federal Motor Vehicle Standard 207 for Seating
On July 16, 2024 NHTSA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register addressing direction to the Secretary of Transportation to initiate rulemaking to update FMVSS 207 Seating Systems. The NHTSA partially granted rulemaking petitions which sought changes to improve the safety of children during rear-end crashes. NHTSA denied a petition which sought to require additional warnings instructing adults regarding which rear seating position to place children in. Comments must be received no later than September 16, 2024.
Aug 2024
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) to amend the NHTSA regulations to include an advanced crash test dummy
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Provided Additional Information on Advanced Crash Test Dummies --– On July 9th the NHTSA issued a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) announcing the availability of documents supplementing NHTSA's September 2023 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. This rulemaking is to amend NHTSA’s regulations to include an advanced crash test dummy – The Test Device for Human Occupant Restraint 50th percentile adult male (THOR). The documents listed in this notification were scheduled to be available in the docket as of July 9, 2024. Comments regarding this SNPRM are due by August 8, 2024.
Jul 2024
Updated UN ECE Regulations Relating to Hydrogen Fuelled Vehicles Published
Following the publication of Amendment 1 to United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Global Technical Regulation No. 13 on hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles, an equivalent set of amendments to the UN ECE Regulation on hydrogen fuelled vehicles, UN ECE Regulation No. 134, were developed to ensure alignment and consistency between the two Regulations. The resulting 02 Series of Amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 134 were adopted by the UN ECE World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) in November 2023 and came into force on June 15, 2024. On that same date, an 05 Series of Amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 94 on offset deformable barrier front impact, and 06 Series of Amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 95 on lateral impact and an 03 Series of Amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 137 on full width flat barrier front impact also came into force. Each of these Series of Amendments introduce the necessary provisions into the relevant Regulation to allow for the crash testing of hydrogen fuelled vehicles.