Regulations Spotlight

Last month's Regulations Spotlight article related to the European Union's plans to introduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions limits for heavy duty vehicles, i.e. goods vehicles with a GVW exceeding 3,500 kg and passenger vehicles with more than eight passenger seats. However, some other countries around the world have already implemented limits on the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from heavy duty vehicles.

In China, limits on the fuel consumption of heavy duty vehicles were first implemented by Chinese Standard No. GB 30510-2014, which was published in February 2014. This standard specified maximum permissible fuel consumption limits for all commercial vehicles with a GVW exceeding 3,500 kg, with separate limit values being specified based on the type of vehicle, i.e. general goods vehicles, semi-trailer towing vehicles, dump trucks, buses and city buses, and on the vehicle’s GVW. Compliance with the limit values specified in this Standard became mandatory for all new types of vehicle from 1st July 2014 and for all new vehicles from 1st July 2015.

In 2017, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information proposed reductions to the fuel consumption limits specified by this standard to support the Chinese government's ongoing plan to reduce the fuel consumption of, and hence the CO2 emissions from, heavy duty vehicles. This led to the publication of a revised version of Chinese Standard GB 30510, to GB 30510-2018, earlier this year which specifies reduced fuel consumption limits for all types of heavy duty vehicle. Compared to the 2014 version of the standard, this new version of the standard specifies fuel consumption limits which are around 15% lower, with reductions ranging from 11% to 18% depending on the specific vehicle type and GVW.

Compliance with the reduced fuel consumption limits specified by this new version of the Standard becomes mandatory for new types of vehicle from 1st July 2019 and for all new vehicles from 1st July 2021.