A coalition of major European corporations has submitted a formal petition to EU leadership requesting that existing heavy truck emissions regulations remain in effect without modification. The signatories, which include Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, French utility company EDF, logistics provider DFDS, and parcel delivery service Geopost, represent members of the Climate Group’s EV100 business initiative focused on fleet electrification.
The corporations’ letter, dated October 1, emphasizes that maintaining current emissions standards will stimulate demand for electric trucks and encourage investment in the sector. Current EU regulations mandate a 43 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from commercial vehicles compared to 2019 levels by 2030, with escalating targets of 64 percent by 2035 and 90 percent by 2040. The EV100 members argue that these ambitious targets require substantial increases in zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles on European roads and that maintaining regulatory certainty will enable companies to continue large-scale investment.
This position directly conflicts with statements from major truck manufacturers including Daimler Truck, Volvo Group, Scania Group, and others, who have called for a three-year postponement of the 2030 carbon dioxide reduction deadline. Manufacturers cite infrastructure gaps as a critical barrier, including delays in charging network deployment and pending regulatory changes regarding vehicle weight and dimension specifications. Industry representatives warn that penalties for non-compliance could exceed €2 billion and that electric trucks currently represent only 2.4 percent of the European market, with significantly lower penetration in countries including Poland, Spain, and Italy.
The disagreement reflects competing priorities between fleet operators and manufacturers regarding the pace of transition toward zero-emission freight transport. Fleet operators emphasize that regulatory predictability supports investment decisions, while manufacturers stress that infrastructure and policy frameworks have not developed sufficiently to support compliance with current timelines.
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