From December 1^st, 2023, Germany will tax CO₂ emitted by heavy-duty trucks. In a move designed to motivate heavy-duty truck owners to adopt new technologies in the quest for lower carbon emissions, the new CO₂ toll will charge heavy-duty truck owners €200 for every ton of CO₂ emitted from vehicles over 3.5 tons. The cost is likely to amount to up to €5,600 for every truck every year.

Some have raised concerns about the issue of German competitiveness but, as widely expected, this is likely to be addressed when the EU follows suit with a similar tax. All eyes will be on Germany from 1^st December to understand the fiscal and competitive impact of Germany’s bold move.

Daniel Mitchell, CEO of addvantage Global, sees this as part of a trend “Governments are between a rock and a hard place trying to deal with carbon emissions from heavy-duty trucks. On the one hand, they are among the worst offenders. On the other hand, carbon-reducing electric and hydrogen technologies are years away. These new carbon taxes are likely to be adopted by the EU and become increasingly stringent.

“It’s a key driver for heavy-duty truck fleets testing and installing the addvantage dual-fuel system. The fact that the addvantage system is free to install, yet delivers a 23% reduction in carbon emissions is a major reason why the technology is now gaining significant adoption in the UK and the EU. The fuel-cost saving of 9.5% is clearly an additional driver. We expect to see a rapid uptake of the addvantage system by German companies.”

Notes for editors

The addvantage technology can be retrofitted to any heavy-duty truck in a matter of hours. Once fitted, it delivers proven fuel-cost savings of 9.5% and cuts CO₂ emissions by 23%. If mandated, fitting addvantage to EU and UK fleets would deliver 115% of 2025 emissions targets and 80% of 2030 targets.

addvantage is already successful in the UK and Europe. Having achieved VCA approval, the addvantage system now has a pipeline of orders/LOIs in the high 10s of £millions.

For further information, contact Daniel Mitchell, CEO of addvantage Global on +44 (0) 7831 858624 or email him at daniel@addvantage.net.