Position paper - Review of the Weights and Dimensions Directive

ACEAPositionPaper December2022 REVIEWOFTHEWEIGHTSANDDIMENSIONSDIRECTIVE BACKGROUND TheEuropeanCommissionplanstoreviseCouncilDirective96/53/EConthemaximumweightsanddimensionsofheavy-dutyvehicles(‘WeightsandDimensionsDirective’)withtheaimofaligningitwithtargetssetforthereductionofgreenhouseemissionsfromtransport. ACEAwelcomestherevisionasitprovidestheopportunitytoaddressseveralshortcomingsinthedirective,includingremovinginconsistenciesandbarriersthathinderanacceleratedmarketuptakeofzero-emissionvehicles. RECOMMENDATIONS Ingeneral,ACEArecommendsthatthestructureofthecurrentregulationissimplifiedasmuchaspossible,asitcurrentlyincludesarangeofdifferentprovisionsforseveralveryspecificallydefinedvehiclesegments,egroadtrains,articulatedvehicles,motorvehicles,busesandcoaches. Inparticular,ACEArecommendsthattherevisionisfocusedontwokeyelements: Specificprovisionsonvehicledimensions,totalweightsandaxleweightstoacceleratethemarketuptakeofzero-emissionvehicles. Longerandheaviervehiclecombinations:EuropeanModularSystem(EMS). PROVISIONSONVEHICLEDIMENSIONS,TOTALWEIGHTSANDAXLEWEIGHTSTOACCELERATETHEMARKETUPTAKEOFZERO-EMISSIONVEHICLES Commercialvehiclemanufacturershaverepeatedlyexpressedtheircommitmenttomeetingclimateneutralitytargets,andtodecarbonisationby2050atthelatest.Achievingclimateneutralityinroadtransportby2050impliesthatallnewcommercialvehiclessoldmustbefossil-freeby2040.Thiswillrequireafundamentalshiftinpowertraintechnologies–movingawayfromdieselasthedominantenergycarrier,towardslow-andespeciallyzero-emissionvehicles. Zero-emissionvehicles(ZEVs),namelybattery-electricandhydrogen-poweredvehicles,willhavetobecomethebackboneofroadtransportifthesectoristoreachitsdecarbonisationtargets.Thesenewpowertraintechnologiescomewithadditionalrequirementswithrespecttoavailablespaceinthevehicles,totalvehicleweightandaxleweights.Thesedifferencestoconventionallypoweredvehiclesshouldbeaddressedinthereviewtoenableandsupportthemarketuptakeofzero-emissionvehicles.TheobjectiveofACEA’srecommendationsistoremovebarriersthathinderthemarketuptakeofzero-emissionvehiclesandplacethemonalevelplayingfieldwithconventionallypoweredvehicleswithrespecttopayloadetc.Theproposalsarespecificallynotaimedatincreasingtheloadingcapacityofvehicles.Withthisinmind,thereviewoftheWeightsandDimensionsDirectiveshouldaddressthefollowing: Fortrucks Withrespecttoweightandaxleloadprovisionsforzero-emissionvehicles,ACEArecommendsthat: Whensettingoutadditionalweightallowancesforzero-emissionvehicles,anyreferencetoconventionalvehiclesshouldberemoved Alllow-emissionvehiclesshouldbegrantedatleastanadditional1ton. Allzero-emissionvehiclesshouldbegrantedatleastanadditional2tons. AdditionalweightallowancesforZEVsshouldnotbetakenintoaccountwhencalculatingroadchargingrates,irrespectiveofwhetherornottheyaredifferentiatedbyCO2accordingtotheEurovignette.ThisistoavoidZEVsbeingsubjecttohighertolls/usercharges,orgranteddiscountsthatarecalculatedbasedonareferencevaluethatistoohigh. Theaxleloadofthedrivenaxleanddrivenaxlecombinationsshouldbeincreasedbyatleast0.5tons,ideally1ton. ForallZEVs,theadditionalweightallowanceshouldbeincreasedbyupto4tons,insteadofthecurrentadditionalZEVallowanceof2tons. oTheadditionalallowances(2tons)thathavebeengrantedtodatesupportthedesignandmarketuptakeofvehiclesegmentsthatcanrelativelyquicklybeadaptedtozero-emissionpowertrains.However,despiteforeseeabletechnologyimprovements,ithasbecomeclearthatthisadditionalallowanceisinsufficient,especiallyforvehiclesinparticularlydemandingusecases.Thus,tofullyeliminateanypayloaddisadvantagesandensuresufficientperformanceandrange,theadditionalweightallowanceforZEVsshouldbeincreasedto4tons,ratherthanthecurrent2tons. Newpowertraintechnologiesrequiremorespace(egforbatteriesandtanks)thaniscurrentlyprovidedforundertheWeightsandDimensionsDirective.Therefore,ACEArequeststhatallzero-emissionvehicles(categoryN)aregrantedadditionallengthofupto1.5m.Thesevehicleswouldstillcomplywithturning-circlerequirementsandmeetallsafety-relatedrequirements(egDirectVision,GeneralSafetyRegulationetc). Inadditiontotheproposalsrelatingtozero-emissionvehiclessetoutabove,andirrespectiveofaspecificpowertraintechnology,for3-axlevehicle/3-axletrailercombinations(articulatedvehiclesandroadtrains)ACEArecommendsthatthegrosscombinationweight(GCW)shouldbesetat42tons. AnnexIArt.2.2.1and2.2.2a–balreadysetsthemaximumauthorisedvehicleweightforroadtrainsandarticulatedvehicleswith5or6axlesat40tons. Despitetheadditionalaxleinvehiclecombinationsof3-axlemotorvehiclesand3-axletrailers,whicheffectivelyreducestheindividualaxleload,themaximumweight issetatonly40tons.Therevisionshouldincludeanadjustmentofthecombinationweightfortheabove-mentionedvehiclecombinationsto42tons. ShouldtherecommendationtoadjusttheGCWfor3-axlevehicle/3-axletrailercombinationsforallpowertraintechnologiesnotbefollowed,anadditionalweightallowanceofupto6tonswouldbenecessaryforzero-emissionpowertrainsinthisvehiclecombination. Forbuses ACEA’srecommendationsforbusesarealsofocusedonremovingt