Transport/
Road Transportation
Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles

The operation of heavy-duty diesel vehicles (especially freight trucks) is one of Canada's largest and fastest-growing emissions sectors. While engine efficiency continues to improve, Canada's population continues to grow, and Canadians from coast to coast rely largely on trucks to move goods both nationally and regionally.

In the chart, the Historical values come from Environment Canada,

Causes of Emissions

The Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicle (HDDV) category covers all on-road diesel vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of over 3865kg (8500 lbs). In Canada's National Inventory Report, these are broken down by weight class:

  • Heavy Heavy-Duty Vehicles (Class 8): These are the primary contributors. They include "semi" trucks or tractor-trailers used for long-haul freight. They have a GVWR exceeding 14,969 kg (33,000 lbs).
  • Medium Heavy-Duty Vehicles (Classes 6–7): Includes vehicles like school buses, large delivery trucks, and "straight" trucks. Their weights range from 8,846 kg to 14,969 kg.
  • Light Heavy-Duty Vehicles (Classes 2B–5): This includes heavy-duty pickup trucks (e.g., Ford F-250/350 diesel versions), large vans, and smaller vocational trucks used in construction or local delivery.
Although "heavy-duty" often implies freight transportation, this IPCC category also includes other diesel-powered vehicle types such as municipal garbage trucks, fire trucks, and public transit buses.

How might Canada reduce these emissions to zero?

Critical Success Factors

The arithmetic of emissions in this sector is such that there are two ways to reduce emissions:
  1. Reduce vehicle distance travelled
  2. Reduce average emissions per vehicle distance travelled

Barriers

  • People like to drive, and they like to drive at high speeds, in relative privacy inside spacious personal vehicles
  • Vehicle usage patterns have become an integral part of many people's work roles and domestic lifestyles. People struggle to trade convenience and habit for the sake of incremental cost reduction or environmental impact.
  • Vehicles are only replaced on average every 10 years (TODO: verify).
  • The total cost of ownership comparison for EVs and PHEVs vs. ICE vehicles depends on several factors, not all of which are top-of-mind for buyers, and the technology keeps improving (which discourages mainstream and late-adopters).
  • The sale price for EVs is higher than ICE vehicles, except for current possibly-illegally-subsidized Chinese EVs.
  • EVs are slower to charge, have less range than ICE vehicles, and can be charged at fewer places.

Key Stakeholder Groups

  • Regulators
  • Voters

Possible Strategies (feel free to help flesh these out, contribute more)

Description Cost / tonne CO2e