CENSATIMAll guides →Transport · EU Taxonomy Activity Guide
Road transport and electric vehicles under the EU Taxonomy
Road transport under the Taxonomy has converged on a simple test: zero tailpipe emissions. Passenger cars, vans and light commercial vehicles now qualify only as zero-emission vehicles, while heavy trucks retain interim low-emission routes. For fleet owners, lessors and financiers, alignment is effectively a fleet-composition question with clean, checkable evidence.
Why this activity matters
Transport is the EU sector where emissions have fallen least, which is why the Taxonomy’s road criteria tightened on a fixed schedule: the interim CO2-per-kilometre allowance for cars and vans expired at the end of 2025, leaving zero tailpipe emissions as the qualifying standard for light vehicles. Heavy-duty vehicles retain transitional routes tied to the fleet CO2 standards while zero-emission trucks scale.
Commercially this is one of the highest-volume assessment areas: leasing portfolios, auto loans and fleet financing all report Taxonomy KPIs; corporate fleets feed CSRD disclosures; and EV-backed green bonds need asset-level evidence. Because the test reduces to vehicle type-approval data, road transport assessments are fast, and the interesting work sits in DNSH, where tyre and end-of-life requirements catch fleets unaware.
What alignment requires
The tests are vehicle-category specific and date-sensitive. In summary:
| Area | What is required (summarised) |
|---|---|
| Cars & vans (6.5) | Zero tailpipe CO2 emissions (battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell). The former 50 gCO2/km interim allowance applied only to vehicles registered before the end of 2025. |
| Heavy-duty (6.6) | Zero-emission heavy vehicles qualify outright; low-emission heavy vehicles qualify transitionally against the applicable CO2 reference values while zero-emission alternatives scale. |
| Fleets & leasing | Alignment is assessed per vehicle and aggregated: the aligned share of a fleet or portfolio is the share of qualifying vehicles, evidenced by registration and type-approval data. |
Summarised for orientation; the assessment itself applies the full criteria text of the Delegated Acts as amended.
Where DNSH scrutiny falls
End-of-life vehicle and battery handling: reuse and recycling arrangements, including ELV and battery regulation compliance.
Tyres should meet the top fuel-efficiency and external-noise classes, an often-missed documentary point.
CRVA proportionate to the operation; typically light for fleets but relevant for depots and charging infrastructure.
Documentation that typically supports the assessment
- Vehicle registration data with powertrain type and CO2 values (type approval / certificate of conformity)
- Fleet composition schedule for portfolio assessments
- Tyre specifications against labelling classes
- End-of-life and battery take-back arrangements
- For lessors: lease portfolio breakdown by vehicle category
How Censatim assesses it
Road transport assessments are data-led: our questioning establishes vehicle categories, registration dates and powertrains, applies the date-sensitive criteria, then covers the DNSH points fleets most often miss, tyres and end-of-life. Portfolio requests are handled vehicle class by vehicle class, mapping directly onto how lessors and lenders report.
Censatim is an expert-built EU Taxonomy assessment tool: describe the asset or activity in plain language, upload supporting documents, and answer a short set of targeted questions. The result is a criterion-by-criterion view with an In-line / Partial / Not aligned / Undetermined rating and a confidence level for each dimension. See the full methodology.
Frequently asked questions
Assess road transport and electric vehicles now
Free eligibility in under a minute. The sector and activity are pre-filled for you.