Global Roadmap for Reaching 100% Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles by 2040

Published Jun 2022

Sixteen leading nations signed a Global Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles, establishing a clearly defined goal of 30 percent zero-emission commercial vehicle sales by 2030 and 100 percent sales by 2040. Supported by over 50 subnational government and industry endorsements, this Global MOU is the centerpiece of a landmark Global Agreement on Zero-Emission Trucks and Buses establishing a clear pathway for the commercial on-road transportation sector to reach net zero carbon by 2050 in alignment with the Paris Agreement.

With this standard firmly in place, the focus must now shift to implementation. Successfully achieving the long-term outcomes established by the Global MOU requires a front-loaded implementation framework to guide government and industry partners and align policy and investment decisions. Working backwards from an end state defined by a complete market transformation to ZE-MHDVs, CALSTART’s Global Commercial Vehicle Drive to Zero program and campaign of the Clean Energy Ministerial (Drive to Zero) has created a new global roadmap outlining the major steps required to enable 100% of sales of new medium- and heavy duty vehicles to be zero emission by 2040, defining the key elements – including goals, metrics, and timing – within and across each stage of this roadmap.

As a directional document, this six-stage strategy establishes an action plan and timeline for how to achieve Global MOU goals through an aligned set of discrete and actionable elements. Building on an established strategy and early progress in ZE-MHDV technology development and commercialization, this roadmap identifies and defines six discrete yet connected stages culminating with the full infrastructure network build-out, capital investment, and operational capability required for 100 percent of commercial vehicles to be zero-emission:

Author: Cristiano Façanha PhD., Bill Van Amburg, Peter Jenkins, Owen MacDonnell
Organization: CALSTART