Within the European Union (EU) type approval framework, the requirements on the determination of the CO2 emissions performance and fuel consumption of heavy duty vehicles are specified by EU Regulation (EU) 2017/2400. Since its original publication, this EU Regulation has been updated and amended on multiple occasions to expand the scope of vehicles covered by the Regulation and to introduce requirements to cater for developments in vehicle technology, such as pure electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, dual fuel vehicles and vehicles equipped with waste heat recovery systems. However, as new technologies continue to be developed and deployed to improve the CO2 emissions performance of heavy duty vehicles, the European Commission identified the need to introduce further amendments to (EU) 2017/2400 to cover such new technologies. In addition, based on experience gained with the application of the current Regulation’s requirements, the European Commission also identified the need for further refinements and clarifications to its requirements to ensure its consistent and correct application.
The necessary updates and amendments that were identified by the European Commission were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on February 20, 2025 as Amending Regulation (EU) 2025/258, and the main amendments to (EU) 2017/2400 introduced by this Amending Regulation can be summarised as follows:
- The introduction of new requirements to cover vehicles fuelled by hydrogen, including fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHV).
- The introduction of new requirements to cover vehicles fitted with efficient wheel ends, where ‘wheel ends’ are defined as the assembly of components that establish connection between the road wheel and the axle, including the wheel hub, wheel bearings, seals, etc.
- The introduction of new requirements to cover vehicles fitted with multiple drivetrains which are capable of operating independently.
- The introduction of new requirements to cover vehicles which are capable of being recharged whilst they are in motion.
- The introduction of alternative procedures for determining aerodynamic performance which are based on computational fluid dynamics, thereby providing the opportunity to reduce the physical testing burden on manufacturers.
- The introduction of new requirements to avoid the need to establish CO2 emissions performance and fuel consumption figures under both the heavy vehicle and light vehicle regimes for vehicle types which potentially fall within the scope of both Regulations, i.e. light/medium trucks which straddle the threshold between the light vehicle and heavy vehicle CO2 emissions and fuel consumption Regulations.
Compliance with the updated requirements introduced by (EU) 2025/258 will become mandatory from January 1, 2026. However, vehicle manufacturers may voluntarily comply with the updated requirements from March 12, 2025.