The UK Government is consulting on regulatory options to reduce emissions of new heavy good vehicles (HGV) including the phase out of sales of new non-zero emission HGVs.
The consultation will look at how the sector can reduce emissions from new HGVs, and will also assess the phase out of new non zero-emission HGVs weighting up to and including 26 tonnes by 2025 and all such vehicles by 2040.
It seeks stakeholder views on the regulatory options and broad regulatory design of a future framework to reduce HGV emissions as well as on the scope and eligibility criteria of ‘zero emission, the categorisation of vehicles, flexibilities and penalties, and input on CO2 emissions reduction trajectories.
Logistics UK Head of Decarbonisation Policy Lamech Solomon said:
“The government needs to decide whether its primary focus is electrification or on achieving efficient decarbonisation through a broad range of technologies – using low carbon fuel (LCF) reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% so can have an instant impact in achieving the country’s decarbonisation objectives, despite not being classified as ‘zero emission’.
“The logistics sector recognises zero tailpipe emission HGVs are the long-term goal, but for an industry that operates on slim margins, the cost of electrifying fleets is currently considered prohibitive. The high cost of battery electric HGVs, insufficient public charging infrastructure in addition to costs and time associated with installing grid upgrades are blocking progress on decarbonisation. As part of Logistics UK’s recent road freight decarbonisation1 report, research found that 80% of survey respondents are unable to install charging infrastructure with sufficient capacity at their operation sites.
“The government needs to adopt a truly technology-neutral approach to decarbonising HGVs and all viable pathways, including LCF and other solutions must be considered: LCF is complementary to battery electric vehicles and until zero tailpipe emission options are commercially viable for all use cases, LCF will be vital to the HGV fleet.”
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