White paper
Fuel efficiency technology in European heavy-duty vehicles: Baseline and potential for the 2020–2030 timeframe
Heavy-duty vehicles produce about a quarter of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from road transport in the European Union (EU), and some 5% of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Their share is growing, as emissions from cars and vans decline in response to increasingly stringent CO2 standards for those vehicles.
The technical research described in this report informs stakeholders on the current status of fuel efficiency performance and the technological potential for improving the fuel efficiency of new heavy-duty freight-hauling vehicles in the EU in the 2020–2030 timeframe. The analysis focuses on two vehicle segments on either end of the freight hauling operational spectrum: long-haul tractor-trailers and urban rigid delivery trucks.
Key findings:
- Current vehicle baseline. The baseline fuel consumption of a typical 2015 European 40-tonne 4×2 tractor-trailer over the proposed regulatory Long Haul cycle is 33.1 L/100km. Similarly, the baseline fuel consumption of a typical 2015 European 12-tonne 4×2 rigid truck over the proposed regulatory Urban Delivery cycle is 21.4 L/100km.
- Tractor-trailer potential in the mid-term. Compared to the baseline tractor-trailer, available efficiency technologies can reduce fuel use by 27% in long haul operation. This amounts to a reduction in fuel consumption from the tractor-trailer baseline of 33.1 L/100km to 24.0 L/100km. The corresponding average annual reduction is 3.1% per year from 2015 to 2025.
- Tractor-trailer potential in the long-term. Compared to the baseline tractor-trailer, well-known but not yet widely commercialized technologies can achieve a 43% fuel consumption reduction in long haul operation by 2030. This would require an average annual reduction from 2015 to 2030 of 3.6%, reducing the fuel consumption of new tractor-trailers to 18.9 L/100km by 2030.
- Rigid truck potential in the mid-term. The application of available technologies to the baseline 12-tonne delivery truck results in a 23% reduction in fuel consumption. Starting from a baseline fuel consumption of 21.4 L/100km, mid-term technology would reduce fuel consumption to 16.5 L/100km. The corresponding average annual reduction is 2.6% per year from 2015 to 2025.
- Rigid truck potential in the long-term. The long-term package consists mostly of technologies that are not yet commercialized. The exception is the hybrid-powertrain. Although full hybrid delivery trucks are currently available on the market, we opted to include this technology in the longer-term package due to its compatibility with advanced road load reduction technologies. The long-term package results in a 43% reduction in fuel consumption from the 2015 baseline, an annual improvement of around 3.6% per year from 2015–2030. This amounts to a reduction in fuel consumption from a baseline of 21.4 L/100km to 12.1 L/100km by 2030.
