Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/35 of 13 January 2025 implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council by determining the procedures for the in-service verification of the CO2 emissions of heavy-duty vehicles

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 setting CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles, and amending Regulations (EC) No 595/2009 and (EU) 2018/956 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 96/53/EC (1), and in particular Article 9(3) and Article 13(4), first subparagraph, thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 requires type-approval authorities to report to the Commission any deviations in the CO2 emission values of heavy-duty vehicles in service as compared to the values that are indicated in the certificates of conformity or in the customer information file accompanying those vehicles as a result of verifications performed in accordance with Article 13 of that Regulation.

(2) Under Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242, type-approval authorities which granted manufacturers a licence to operate a simulation tool under Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) and Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 (3) (‘granting approval authorities’) are to verify for those manufacturers, on the basis of appropriate and representative vehicle samples, that the CO2 emission and fuel consumption values recorded in the customer information files correspond to the CO2 emissions from, and fuel consumption of, heavy-duty vehicles in-service as determined in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 and its implementing measures, as well as the presence of any strategies on board or relating to the sampled vehicles that artificially improve the vehicles’ performance in the tests performed or in the calculations made for the purpose of certifying the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption (‘in-service verification’).

(3) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1127 (4) sets out the guiding principles and criteria for defining the procedures for performing the in-service verification.

(4) This Regulation sets out detailed procedures for the in-service verification, in line with those guiding principles and criteria.

(5) In order to target for in-service verification those families with vehicles or tyres presenting the highest risk for a deviation in the CO2 emission and fuel consumption values from the specific CO2 emission and fuel consumption values recorded in the customer information file, the granting approval authority should select families on the basis of a risk assessment to be performed by the Commission.

(6) In the case of tyres, as an in-service verification tyre family can be used by multiple vehicle manufacturers, it is appropriate to limit the testing of tyres from an in-service verification tyre family to one granting approval authority within each in-service verification reporting period, in order to simplify the process and reduce the administrative burden. Similarly, a component defining a verification testing procedure family can be used by multiple vehicle manufacturers. Therefore, it is appropriate to limit also the testing of vehicles from a verification testing procedure family to one granting approval authority within each in-service verification reporting period.

(7) In order to ensure that the in-service verification is representative, the granting approval authorities should select a minimum number of families to be tested, based on the calculation, for each manufacturer, of the total number of vehicles, for which the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption have been determined under Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 (‘total number of vehicles under Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2400’), and in the case of trailers, based on the calculation, for each trailer manufacturer, of the total number of trailers, for which the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption have been determined under Article 8 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1362 (5) (‘total number of trailers under Article 8 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1362’). In the case of trailers, only in-service verification (‘ISV’) tyre families should be selected for in-service verification, as the verification testing procedure and air drag tests are not yet defined for trailers.

(8) The CO2 emission and fuel consumption values recorded in the customer information file is to be determined by a simulation tool, based on certification testing of relevant vehicle components. Conformity of the simulation tool operation is to be verified by a verification testing procedure at vehicle level in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400. It is appropriate to require that the vehicles selected for the in-service verification tests are in a similar condition as those tested during the verification testing procedure, in particular by setting requirements for their maximum mileage and age.

(9) Only new tyres are appropriate for a tyre rolling resistance coefficient test carried out within an in-service verification, as testing used tyres would result, due to their wear, in a significantly lower rolling resistance coefficient. The selection of tyres for in-service verification tests should be independent from the selection of vehicles for in-service verification tests.

(10) In order to allow the granting approval authority to come to a conclusion for all vehicles concerned, on the basis of the test results for the vehicles sampled, a statistical evaluation method based on sequential sampling has been established.

(11) In case a verification testing procedure family fails the statistical evaluation of the test results as set out in Annex I, the CO2 emission values of all vehicles concerned should be corrected, as passing that verification testing procedure is a prerequisite for maintaining the emissions type approval. In addition, it is appropriate that the granting approval authority investigates if there is sufficient evidence that a specific component is the cause of failing the statistical evaluation, in which case more vehicles could be concerned.

(12) In order to verify that the CO2 emission and fuel consumption values recorded in the customer information file correspond to those values of heavy-duty vehicles in service, the test conditions and test results should be specified in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 and its implementing measures.

(13) For air drag test conditions, to ensure that the possible variations in test conditions between in-service verification tests are reduced as much as possible, it is appropriate to apply the air drag test conditions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 in the latest version in force, as these conditions have been narrowed down compared to the conditions applicable at the time of the certification.

(14) In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400, manufacturers are allowed to determine air drag values based on a computational fluid dynamics (‘CFD’) simulation method. Therefore, it is appropriate to introduce a specific test to verify the specific validation of that simulation method as part of the in-service verification tests to verify the air drag values.

(15) In order to detect an artificial strategy, which operates only during the verification tests and not during normal operation in-service, it is crucial that the specific testing conditions are not known beforehand. Therefore, the conditions for the dedicated artificial strategy tests should be determined on a case-by-case basis by the granting approval authority.

(16) Given that the exact nature of artificial strategies cannot be known beforehand, the analysis and evaluation of the artificial strategy test results should be done by the granting approval authority based on a comparison of results found under different test conditions.

(17) In order to document the test results and provide for their further analysis, the granting approval authority should make the test report available to the Commission and the manufacturer concerned. In order to support the risk assessment performed by the Commission, it is appropriate to require that the test data is also submitted to the Commission, using a dedicated platform.

(18) If a deviation in the CO2 emission values has been found, the manufacturer concerned should be given the opportunity to react to the findings of the granting approval authority within an appropriate time limit to avoid an undue lengthening of the in-service verification process. It should, however, be possible to extend the time limit in order to properly assess the technical documents provided.

(19) Where a lack of correspondence between CO2 emission values of the in-service verification and the values recorded in the customer information files, or the presence of any strategies artificially improving those vehicles’ performance is found as a result of the performance of in-service verification tests, the specific CO2 emissions of all vehicles concerned should be corrected, given that the test vehicles are deemed to be representative of all vehicles concerned.

(20) In order to take the deviations into account for the purpose of calculating and correcting the average specific CO2 emissions of a manufacturer, it is appropriate that the Commission determines the size of the deviation in the CO2 emission values and which vehicles are concerned.

(21) A correction of the average specific CO2 emissions of a manufacturer should be applied from the reporting period of the year 2025, as that is the first reporting period for which CO2 emissions reduction targets are applied in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1242.

(22) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Climate Change Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the definitions in Article 3 of, and Annexes III, VIII, X and Xa to, Regulation (EU) 2017/2400, and Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1127 shall apply.

In addition, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘verification testing procedure (“VTP”) family’ means a group of vehicles which have in common one or more of the components, separate technical units and systems listed in Article 12(1), points (a) to (f), (h) and (j), of Regulation (EU) 2017/2400;

(2) ‘verification testing procedure (“VTP”) test’ means a test carried out in accordance with the verification testing procedure performed on a vehicle in service in accordance with Annex Xa to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400;

(3) ‘in-service verification (“ISV”) air drag family’ means a group of vehicles, that have a lower or equal declared air drag value than the parent vehicle of the air drag family which has been selected for performing an air drag test, and that are permitted to be with this parent vehicle within the same air drag family as set out in Appendix 5 of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400;

(4) ‘air drag test’ means a constant speed test with torque measurements performed on a vehicle in service in accordance with Section 3 of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400;

(5) ‘CFD family’ means a group of vehicles for which the air drag value has been determined using the same computational fluid dynamics (‘CFD’) simulation method, as approved in accordance with Appendix 10 of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400;

(6) ‘CFD method air drag test’ means a test to verify the specific validation of the computational fluid dynamics (‘CFD’) simulation method approved in accordance with Appendix 10 of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400;

(7) ‘in-service verification (“ISV”) tyre family’ means a group of tyres consisting, for the purpose of in-service verification, of all tyres belonging to a type of tyre, as defined in Section 2, point 3, of Annex X to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400, from the same manufacturer and from the same fuel efficiency class, as defined in Regulation (EU) 2020/740 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6);

(8) ‘tyre rolling resistance coefficient (“RRC”) test’ means a test performed on each tyre in accordance with Section 3, point 3.2, of Annex X to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400, in a reference laboratory or candidate laboratory as defined in Section 1, point (1) and (2), of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2020/740;

(9) ‘mass test’ means a test to determine the ‘corrected actual mass of the vehicle’, as defined in Section 2, point (4), of Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400, or in the case of a trailer, the ‘corrected mass in running order’, as defined in Section 3, Table 1, of Annex III to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1362;

(10) ‘artificial strategies test’ means a dedicated test performed on a vehicle in-service to verify whether artificial strategies are present;

(11) ‘deviation in the CO2 emission values’ means that the CO2 emissions of vehicles determined in an in-service verification carried out under this Regulation, are higher than the emissions determined, for motor vehicles, in accordance with the procedures set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 or, for trailers, in accordance with the procedures set out in Iplementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1362, and recorded in the customer information file, certificates of conformity or individual approval certificates accompanying those motor vehicles or trailers, taking into account the statistical evaluation of the tests in accordance with Annex I.

Article 3

Selection of families

The granting approval authority shall also ensure that vehicles from a VTP family or tyres from an ISV tyre family are not being tested by another granting approval authority in the same in-service verification reporting period.

(a) the total number of new vehicles from the VTP family, ISV air drag family and ISV tyre family that have been placed on the Union market;

(b) the data from vehicles belonging to certain VTP families, ISV air drag families and ISV tyre families with similar technical characteristics but with lower CO2 emissions, identified using the data collected pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1430 (7);

(c) evidence of a deviation in the CO2 emission values obtained by the Commission, or received from another type-approval authority, a market surveillance authority, or a third party complying with the requirements of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/163 (8);

(d) the results of previous in-service verifications, and in particular the findings related to the presence of artificial strategies;

(e) relevant information from tests performed and reported to the Commission pursuant to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1430 and from conformity of production tests performed pursuant to Section 4 of Annex X to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400;

(f) real-world fuel consumption data.

Article 4

Type and number of in-service verification tests

The granting approval authority shall calculate, for each manufacturer, the ‘total number of vehicles under Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2400’, referred to in Table 1 of Annex I to this Regulation, as the average, over the three reporting periods preceding the in-service verification, of the manufacturer’s total number of vehicles for which the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption have been determined under Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2400.

In addition, for each manufacturer for whom the ‘total number of vehicles under Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2400’ is equal to or higher than 5 000, the granting approval authority shall perform each reporting period one mass test per manufacturer and one artificial strategies test per manufacturer.