New report demonstrates that the fuel efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles, and with that their CO2 emissions, has improved significantly over the last 20 years – not only on paper but also in practice.
For this report, each ACEA member contracted an independent testing agency to compare the on-road performance of different trucks from the past two decades. The tests were performed by conducting comparative test drives with an older vehicle (in most cases 20 years or older) and a truck of the latest generation. For each test, a pair of comparable vehicles from the same truck manufacturer was selected, with both vehicles respecting the following criteria:
- Same mission profile (eg long-haul transport)
- Comparable vehicle configuration (eg truck-trailer combination)
- Tested at the same speed and carrying the same payload
- Truck representative of the market at the time of its introduction
- All tests were conducted and performed under the strict supervision of well-respected testing agencies.
Industry-wide progress on the road
These third-party assessments show that the major investments made by Europe’s truck manufacturers over the past decades to reduce CO2 emissions have delivered clear progress on the road. A summary of the report’s key findings can be found in the table below.
