Towards decarbonized vehicles by 2035

A European framework focused on electrifying light and heavy vehicles

To implement the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, the European Commission presented its Fit for 55 Package on 14 July 2021. The package brings together legislative proposals covering energy, buildings and transport.

A 100% reduction in emissions from light vehicles by 2035

A cornerstone of light-vehicle decarbonization, Regulation (EU) 2023/851 strengthens CO₂ emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles. It sets a 100% reduction in CO₂ emissions from light vehicles by 2035, equivalent to ending the sale of conventional combustion-engine vehicles in 2035, including plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Stronger decarbonization targets for heavy-duty vehicles

The companion framework, Regulation (EU) 2024/1610, strengthens CO₂ emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles and sets a 90% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2040 for heavy trucks over 16 tonnes.

These objectives apply to medium trucks, heavy trucks over 7.5 tonnes, coaches and corresponding professional vehicles, such as waste-collection trucks, tippers and concrete mixers, from 2035.

The regulation also introduces an objective for 100% of new urban buses to be zero-emission by 2035.

Policy momentum supporting a stronger transition

Public authorities have also set principles to support the development of electric vehicles, including the transition of private and public fleets by 2030.

For companies, 2025 marks an acceleration in fleet electrification

Mobility and climate legislation has progressively established milestones for electrifying company fleets. In response to insufficient compliance with fleet transition obligations, new incentive mechanisms have been introduced to encourage companies to integrate more low-emission vehicles into their fleets.

These measures are designed to support a growing share of low-emission vehicles. They add to existing annual taxes related to CO₂ emissions and air pollutants.

The framework generally concerns companies with large fleets, including vehicles purchased or leased under long-term or short-term contracts. Passenger vehicles and certain light commercial vehicles are included, while vehicles assigned to specific activities, such as public passenger transport, driving instruction, agriculture or forestry, may be exempt.

The calculation is based on a formula that combines three factors:

A fixed rate per missing vehicle, defined according to the year of application;
A gap from the target objective for integrating low-emission vehicles;
An annual renewal rate for high-emitting light vehicles.

The impact of these measures is already visible, with electric-vehicle registrations in the company market increasing in the first months after implementation.

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Public fleets are also covered by transition objectives

Public-fleet transition objectives are driven by rules promoting clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles. They apply to public fleets with more than 20 vehicles, with obligations varying by fleet type and public authority category.

A summary of transition obligations is shown below:

% of low-emission vehicles acquired when renewing the fleet
Effective date	State and public institutions	Local authorities, groups and public institutions	Other contracting authorities and entities
2025	50	40	40
2026	50	40	40
2027	70	40	40
2028	70	40	40
2029	70	40	40
2030	70	70	40

During renewal, public authorities can purchase these vehicles or use long-term leasing arrangements.

They must also implement training or awareness measures for vehicle users to reduce the environmental impact of driving. Where relevant, they must ensure that conditions are in place for optimal use of plug-in hybrid vehicles in electric mode.

Public authorities must publish the percentage of low-emission and very-low-emission vehicles among vehicles renewed during the previous year.

Focus: what is a low-emission vehicle or a very-low-emission vehicle?

Low-emission vehicles are defined by environmental regulations and generally qualify when:

Their exhaust greenhouse gas emissions do not exceed 50 gCO₂/km; and
Their real-driving particle and nitrogen-oxide emissions remain within the applicable regulatory limits.

Very-low-emission vehicles include vehicles powered by:

Electricity;
Hydrogen;
Hydrogen/electric plug-in hybrid systems;
Hydrogen-electric non-plug-in systems or compressed air;
Retrofitted vehicles converted from a thermal engine to a battery-electric or fuel-cell powertrain and approved by the competent authority.

Heavy vehicles

Public fleets of heavy vehicles are also covered by transition obligations, with a distinction between goods transport and passenger transport.

Goods transport

When public authorities or public companies manage a fleet of more than 20 goods-transport vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, they must acquire or use low-emission vehicles when renewing the fleet according to the proportions shown below.

	% of low-emission vehicles acquired when renewing the fleet
Effective date	State and public institutions	Local authorities, groups and public institutions	Other contracting authorities and entities
Effective date	Low-emission vehicles	Low-emission vehicles	Low-emission vehicles
2024	50	10	10
2025	50	10	10
From 2026	50	15	15

Passenger transport

Public transport operators with fleets of more than 20 buses and coaches must plan, when renewing vehicles, to acquire or use low-emission buses and coaches in a minimum proportion of 50%, then entirely from 1 January 2025.

For buses, half of these proportions must consist of very-low-emission buses.