Vehicle registration data shows that as at the end of August 2023 62% of Irish Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDVs) were 10 years or younger. Industry survey data published by the Freight Transport Association of Ireland (FTAI) gives an average age for a heavy goods vehicle of 6.1 years in 2022. The Irish HDV fleet is therefore relatively modern. There is no Government scrappage scheme for HDVs in place.
The European Green Deal includes a specific commitment for the removal of subsidies for fossil fuels at the national level. Financial support for diesel trucks is not consistent with that commitment and it is not likely to be possible to progress such a Scheme in line with EU State Aid rules.
Ireland’s Road Haulage Strategy, which was published in December 2022, provides a roadmap on how the sector can decarbonise to meet the targets set out in the Climate Action Plan.
Though in recent years, there has been a high level of uncertainty as to the likely technological pathway for decarbonising HGVs, this pathway is now becoming clearer with electric trucks emerging as the preferred technology. The widespread take up of electric trucks is expected to begin towards the end of this decade.
In November 2022 Ireland joined like-minded states in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Zero-Emission Medium and Heavy-duty vehicles. This MOU sets out non-binding global commitment to achieve a minimum of 30 percent of all new Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles (including buses and trucks) sales to be zero-emission by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040.
There are currently several Government supports in place to help decarbonise heavy-duty vehicles and to assist in the reduction of carbon emissions.
My Department launched the Alternatively-Fuelled Heavy-Duty Vehicle Purchase Grant Scheme in March 2021, which partly funds the purchase of new alternatively fuelled large vans, trucks, buses and coaches.
Grant levels under the Scheme are calculated as a percentage of the difference in price between a conventionally-fuelled diesel HDV and its alternatively-fuelled equivalent. Maximum grant levels for eligible vehicles depend on the size of the company or enterprise applying for the grant, and on the fuel-type of the vehicle that the applicant wishes to buy. Funding of €5m was allocated to the Scheme this year, an increase of €2m on the funding allocated in 2022.
There are positive signs from truck manufacturers regarding the expected future availability of new Battery Electric truck models on the market. This supply will be secured via ambitious targets in the EU CO2 standards for Heavy Duty Vehicles, currently being negotiated in Brussels. The EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) has already set mandatory targets for the construction of alternative fuelling stations, including electric charging points and hydrogen fuel stations, in all Member States.
Additionally, Ireland also has the Low Emission Vehicle Toll Incentive which offers toll discounts for alternatively-fuelled vehicles, up to an annual cap of €1,000.
