CO₂ emission class finder

The rules of the CO₂ emission class finder are based on the directives and regulations of the European Union. To determine the CO₂ emission class the directive (EU) 2022/362 dated 24th February 2022 is particularly important. This modifies the directive 1999/62/EC (EU infrastructure costs directive). In Germany, the updated directive is being implemented in national law in the third version of legislation for the change of legal toll regulations.

The EU infrastructure costs directive introduces CO₂ emission classes for heavy goods vehicles. It also defines criteria for allocating vehicles to these CO₂ emission classes.

The Toll Collect CO₂ emission class finder also takes into account regulations which refer to the EU infrastructure costs directive. These include directive (EU) 2019/1242 dated 20th June 2019, which defines zero-emission and low-emission vehicles. Zero-emission vehicles belong to CO₂ emission class 5, low-emission vehicles to CO₂ emission class 4. The regulations also set out an emission reduction curve, with which the specific CO₂ emissions of a vehicle can be compared for classification into the CO₂ emission classes 2 and 3. Based on reference values defined as of 1 July 2019, the threshold values that must be met in order to be assigned to CO₂ emission classes 2 and 3 will become lower from year to year. The levels of the reference values depend on the vehicle group and subgroup of a vehicle and were established by the Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/781 of 10 May 2021.

The vehicle group of a vehicle is in turn determined by features such as its axle configuration. The vehicle groups were defined by directive (EU) 2017/2400 dated 12 December 2017. This directive has been amended three times so far by directive (EU) 2019/318, directive (EU) 2020/1181 and directive (EU) 2022/1379. The vehicle subgroup of a vehicle specifies its typical usage profile, e.g. its use in long-distance or urban traffic. The classification of vehicles of certain vehicle groups into vehicle subgroups is in turn determined by the above-mentioned directive (EU) 2019/1242.

There are five CO₂ emission classes:

• CO₂ emission class 5 for zero-emission vehicles: These vehicles are exempt from the toll until 31 December 2025, and even permanently for a Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass of up to 4.25 t.
• CO₂ emission class 4 for low-emission heavy goods vehicles
• CO₂ emission class 3 for vehicles whose specific CO₂ emissions at the time of first registration are more than 8 percent below an emission reduction curve.
• CO₂ emission class 2 for vehicles whose specific CO₂ emissions at the time of first registration are only more than 5 percent below an emission reduction curve.
• CO₂ emission class 1 for vehicles that do not qualify for a higher class.

The classification of a vehicle within CO₂ emission classes 2 and 3 must also be reviewed and updated every six years after initial registration.

Details on the classification into these CO₂ emission classes can be found in the answer to the next question.

The simplest approach is to provide evidence via the customer information file (CIF) for the vehicle. You can request the CIF from the vehicle manufacturer.

An alternative form of evidence is the certificate of conformity (COC) for the vehicle, provided both fields 49.5 and 49.7 are completed. For COCs, the following apply:

• If field 49.5 is missing or does not contain specific CO2 emissions, the COC cannot be used as evidence.
• If field 49.7 is missing or does not contain a vehicle (sub)group, the COC can only be used if it was issued for the basic vehicle. This is the first COC issued by the manufacturer for the vehicle. You can request this document from the manufacturer. COCs that have been issued after modification work cannot be used.

After entering the specific CO₂ emissions, the CO₂ emission class finder checks whether the specific CO₂ emissions qualify the vehicle as zero-emissions. Such a vehicle belongs to CO₂ emission class 5 (exempt from toll until 31.12.2025; permanently exempt for Technically Permissible Maximum Laden Mass up to 4.25 t). More information on zero-emission vehicles can be found in a question below.

If the vehicle is not zero-emission, then its vehicle (sub)group must also be entered or determined. The CO₂ emission class finder checks whether the specific CO₂ emissions fall below the reference value of the vehicle (sub)group by more than 50 percent. This qualifies the vehicle as low-emission. A low-emission vehicle permanently belongs to CO₂ emission class 4. Another requirement for CO₂ emission class 4 is that the date of first registration of the vehicle is 1 July 2019 or later. The reference values for CO₂ emissions only apply from this date.

If the vehicle is not low-emission, the CO₂ emission class finder compares the specific CO₂ emissions of the vehicle with an emission reduction curve. The following graph illustrates the emission reduction curve for a vehicle in vehicle group 4-UD:

The comparison of the specific CO₂ emissions with the emission reduction curve is made on the date of first registration. However, if more than 6, 12, 18... (intervals of six) years have already passed since the initial registration, then the comparison is made on the day that is 6, 12, 18... years after the initial registration. If the emission reduction curve is undercut by more than 8 percent on this date, then the vehicle belongs to CO₂ emission class 3. If the emission reduction curve is only undercut by more than 5 percent, then the vehicle belongs to CO₂ emission class 2. If neither is the case, then the vehicle falls into CO₂ emission class 1. For classification into CO₂ emission classes 2 and 3, the date of first registration of the vehicle must also be on or after 1 July 2019.

The emission reduction curve is obtained by multiplying the reference value of the vehicle (sub)group by an emission reduction factor that varies annually. From 1 July 2019, this factor will be 100 per cent. On 1 July of each subsequent year, the factor decreases by 2.5 percentage points until it reaches 85 per cent as of 1 July 2025. Thereafter, the factor decreases by 3.0 percentage points on 1 July of each subsequent year until a fixed value of 70 percent is reached as of 1 July 2030. The decrease in the emission reduction curve means that the requirements for classification within CO₂ emission classes 2 and 3 increase with each year until 2030.

Furthermore, classification within these classes requires that a reference value has been defined for the vehicle (sub)group of the vehicle. So far, this is only the case for the subgroups of vehicle groups 4, 5, 9 and 10. Vehicles in the other vehicle (sub)groups currently only qualify for CO₂ emission class 1 unless they are zero-emission. If reference values are defined for further vehicle (sub)groups in the future, the CO₂ emission class finder will be extended for this purpose.

The abbreviations stand for the following typical vehicle application profiles:

• UD: urban delivery
• RD: regional delivery
• LH: long haul

If your vehicle has a date of first registration before 1 July 2019, then it only qualifies for CO₂ emission class 1 - unless the vehicle is zero-emission.

Classification within CO₂ emission classes 2, 3 and 4 is currently only possible for vehicles in vehicle groups 4, 5, 9 and 10. Only for subgroups of these vehicle groups have reference values for CO₂ emissions been defined by the European Union, on the basis of which classification into these CO₂ emission classes can take place. If reference values are defined for further vehicle (sub)groups in the future, the CO₂ emission class finder will be extended for this purpose.

CO₂ emission classes 2 and 3 are only valid for six years from the date of first registration. If you are interested in the CO₂ emission class of your vehicle on a date earlier or later than the date of use of the CO₂ emission class finder, then you can change the date pre-filled here. The field is pre-filled with today's date, which is appropriate for most use cases.

It was stipulated by law that the classification of a vehicle into CO₂ emission classes 2 and 3 must be re-determined every six years after its initial registration on the basis of the limit values which are then applicable. The CO₂ emission class may deteriorate or remain the same, depending on the characteristics of the vehicle.

The CO₂ emission class finder determines the CO₂ emission classes according to the current status of European and national specifications. If these specifications change, the rules for determining CO₂ emission classes could also change.

Classification into CO₂ emission classes 2, 3 and 4 depends on the date of a vehicle's first registration. This date may differ for technically identical vehicles and result in different CO₂ emission classes.

The reference values for CO₂ emissions and the emission reduction curve took effect on 1 July 2019. For this reason, only vehicles first registered on 1 July 2019 or later can be classified in CO₂ emissions classes 2, 3 or 4. Vehicles registered before this date are always classified in CO₂ emissions class 1, except for zero-emission vehicles, which belong to CO₂ emissions class 5.

The emission reduction curve used for classifying CO₂ emissions classes 2 and 3 becomes lower on the effective date of 1 July every year. This means that a vehicle first registered on 30 June of a certain year can have a different CO₂ emission class from a technically identical vehicle that was first registered on 1 July of the same year.

Further information on determining CO₂ emission classes can be found above.

For the classification of vehicles into CO₂ emission classes 2, 3 and 4, their specific CO₂ emissions are compared with threshold values that depend on defined reference values. For the subgroups of vehicle groups 4, 5, 9 and 10, the following reference values were set as starting values of the emission reduction curves for CO₂ emissions on the cut-off date of 1 July 2019:

The link between the availability of a sleeper berth and the CO₂ emission class arises from (among other things) EU directive 2019/1242:

If a sleeping berth is available, it is assumed that the vehicle is predominantly engaged in long haul trips. This results in classification in the "LH" (long haul) vehicle sub-group and the assignment of a corresponding mission profile (long-haul traffic) to determine the specific CO₂ emissions.

If there is no sleeping berth, the vehicle will be assigned to the "RD" (regional delivery) sub-group. When determining the specific CO₂ emissions for these vehicles, the mission profile for regional delivery vehicles will be used.

Due to the different mission profiles, the CIF/COC for a vehicle with a sleeping berth (long haul) will typically have lower specific CO₂ emissions than for a vehicle with an identical construction that does not have a sleeping berth (regional delivery). The possible classification of a vehicle with a sleeping berth to a less favourable CO₂ emission class similarly takes this distinction into account. Consequently, lower maximum permissible CO₂ limits are applicable for long-haul vehicles in terms of satisfying the criteria for CO₂ emission classes 2, 3 and 4 (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/781, Annex II).

Zero-emission means a heavy goods vehicle without an internal combustion engine and a vehicle with an internal combustion engine whose emissions are less than 1 gCO₂/kWh or less than 1 gCO₂/km (directive (EU) 2019/1242).

The CO₂ emission class finder allows zero-emission fuel types/energy sources to be specified, for example for a pure electric vehicle or a hydrogen-powered vehicle.

The log provided by the CO₂ emission class finder does not serve as evidence for CO₂ emission classes. The log only gives you an overview of which CO₂ emission class the entered vehicle data have led to.

The reference field of the CO₂ emission class finder allows you to enter a registration number or other characteristic to be able to identify the associated vehicle in the downloadable log, even retrospectively.

Please note: The CO₂ emission class finder in the public area of the Toll Collect website is for information only. Please request a change of the CO₂ emission class for your vehicle in the customer portal.

The vehicle data entered in the CO₂ emission class finder in the public area of the Toll Collect website are not saved.

Vehicles are classified into carbon dioxide emission classes according to the requirements of Directive 1999/62/EC (infrastructure charging directive).

There are five CO₂ emission classes.