Heavy Duty Trucking, April 2019

HDT APRIL 2019 24 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Hotlineglobal Insight from Truck Bus Builder The Brussels based European Automobile Manufacturers Association is concerned about the ambitious carbon dioxide reduction targets in the EUs new emission regulations for heavy duty vehicles reached by the European Parliament European Commission and national governments The rules call for cutting CO2 emissions from trucks by 15 by 2025 and 30 by 2030 ACEA sees these targets as highly demandTruck makers concerned about final EU emissions rulesPREMIUM BRANDS LOCAL EXPERTS Theres no beating the ease of doing business with your trusted local truck parts distributor As part of North Americas Leading Truck Parts Network your local VIPAR Heavy Duty Parts Professional offers the brands you want and the expertise you need with the strength and resources of a network of over 620 locations throughout the U S Canada Mexico and Puerto Rico THE RIGHT PEOPLE THE RIGHT PARTS THE RIGHT PLACES FIND A VIPAR HEAVY DUTY PARTSAND SERVICE PROFESSIONAL AT VIPAR COMVIPAR TTS Parts_ 45x75_ 121616 indd 112 17 16 3 44 PMing especially as their implementation does not depend solely on the commercial vehicle industry and the baseline for the targets is still unknown We can now only call upon member states to urgently step up their efforts to roll out the infrastructure required for charging and refueling the alternatively powered trucks which will need to be sold en masse if these targets are to be met said Erik Jonnaert ACEA secretary general ACEAs concern stems from the total lack of such infrastructure today Data shows currently there is almost no public charging or refueling infrastructure suitable for electric or hydrogen trucks Even in the case of truck specific filling stations for natural gas availability remains very low and patchy across Europe according to the group The introduction of a benchmark system for truck manufacturers totally ignores the demand side added Jonnaert We cannot expect transport operators to suddenly start buying electric or other alternatively powered trucks if there is no business case for them and especially when it is not currently possible to easily charge the vehicles along all major EU motorways Policymakers must act to ensure the zero emission trucks vehicle manufacturers will be mandated to produce can actually be bought and operated by customers ACEA also pointed out given this is the first time the EU has set CO2 standards for trucks it is extremely worrying that decisions on many supportive measures which could contribute to reaching the targets longer vehicle combinations such as EMS alternative fuels etc have been deferred until at least 2025 Swedens Volvo Trucks also issued a statement of concern about the new regulations It said that while it is continuing to invest heavily in more climate friendly transport solutions additional measures are needed to stimulate demand for vehicles with low CO2 emissions Roger Alm president of Volvo Trucks said it was natural for the EU to introduce limits on CO2 emissions but he wanted to see stronger financial incentives for operators who chose to take a lead in introducing climate friendly vehicles