Position paper – Revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) strongly supports revising the Weights and Dimensions Directive under the ‘Greening Freight Package’, considering it crucial for promoting the adoption of battery-electric and hydrogen-powered trucks and buses.

In this position paper, ACEA outlines several improvements that would enable and support the transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in the heavy-duty sector, which include, among others:

• Ensuring that the additional weight allowance can be fully allocated to zero-emission motor vehicles. Only if it becomes fully available for motor vehicles will it be possible to accommodate zero-emission powertrains in a wide range of vehicle segments, without sacrificing payload and thereby reducing their competitiveness
  • The additional weight allowance will only become fully available if the axle weight of the driven axle is increased by one tonne simultaneously. The proposal to increase this to 12.5 tonnes (from 11.5 tonnes) is a crucial prerequisite, without which it will not be possible to use the additional weight allowance fully. Despite a moderately higher driven axle weight, the overall impact on road wear and tear will be even lower due to inner-vehicle weight distribution adjustments
  • The additional length (+0.9 metres) granted to ZEVs is an equally crucial prerequisite to enable a wide range of vehicle segments to swiftly transition to zero-emission powertrains
• Amending vehicle type-approval provisions simultaneously to ensure the Directive effectively incentivises the operation of vehicles with new design parameters
• Retaining the proposal to expand and simplify the use of longer and heavier vehicles and combinations such as the European Modular System (EMS)
• Prioritising swift progress and adoption of the revised Directive

The downloadable position paper provides more extensive details on the improvements ACEA calls for. 

The proposed revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive incorporates several ACEA recommendations to better level the playing field with conventionally powered vehicles. However, further improvements are needed to enable the uptake of zero-emission models.