China: Heavy-Duty Fuel Consumption Standards

Heavy-duty diesel and gasoline fueled vehicles with GVW rating of 3,500 kg and higher are subject to fuel consumption limits issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Phase I limits were adopted in 2011 to take effect 2012.07 for new models and 2014.07 for all models. These standards were based on the best performing vehicles on the market at the time and covered tractors, cargo trucks (not including dump trucks), and buses/coaches (not including city buses). Limits are expressed as l/100 km and depend on the GVW rating of the vehicle. Base vehicle models were evaluated was over the WHVC with adjustments allowed to accommodate underpowered trucks with low power-to-weight ratios. Variants of the base mode could either be tested with a chassis dynamometer or evaluated with a simulation model.

Around the time that the Phase I limits came into effect, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) also limited the fuel consumption of heavy-duty commercial vehicles through JT/T 719, Fuel consumption limits and measurement methods for commercial trucks. This standard was first issued in 2008 (JT/T 719-2008) and updated in 2016 (JT/T 719-2016) and was implemented in parallel with the MIIT standards. MOT would not issue commercial licenses to any heavy-duty vehicles that did not meet this standard. In this standard, fuel consumption is measured at various constant speeds over a test track and its limits are not comparable to the MIIT standards which use a transient cycle. In 2017, the MOT changed these standards from “mandatory” to “recommended” [6312].

Phase II limits were issued as a national standard (GB 30510-2014) and took effect 2014.07 for new models and 2015.07 for all models. They applied to five vehicle categories that accounted for over 90% of new HDV sales: tractors, straight trucks, dump trucks, city buses and coaches. The limits for tractors, trucks, and coaches were about 10.5% to 14% lower than Phase I standards for these vehicles. Gasoline fueled straight trucks and coaches had limits 20% higher than diesel models.

The Phase III limits (GB 30510-2018), applicable to new models 2019.07 and 2021.07 for all models, retained the same scope as Phase II limits but the vehicle test cycle was changed to the China-World Transient Vehicle Cycle (C-WTVC), a modified version of the WHVC. The test procedure is detailed in GB/T 27840-2011, Fuel consumption test methods for heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Phase III limits are about 12.5% to 15.9% lower than Phase II limits and 21.7% to 27.2% lower than Phase I limits. They are listed in Table 1 to Table 5.

Phase IV limits (GB 30510-2024), applicable to new models 2025.07 and all models 25 months later (2027.08) also retains the scope of the previous two phases, Table 1 to Table 5. Concrete mixer trucks are to comply with the limits for dump trucks. One important change is the switch to the China Heavy-duty Commercial Vehicle Test Cycles (CHTC) and updated test procedures (GB/T 27840-2021). A calculation method for the reference CO₂ emissions was also added.

Compared to Phase III, Phase IV limits are 12% to 16% lower. It should be noted that the fuel consumption of existing vehicles measured over the CHTC cycles is considerably higher than over the C-WTVC cycles used in Phase III. Increases reported include 5% for dump trucks, 2.7% for straight trucks, 2.8% for tractor-trailers, 18% for city buses and 16.8% for coaches under the CHTC [6311].

**Table 1.** Fuel consumption limits for straight trucks, L/100km
GVW, kg	Phase III	Phase IV
3,500<GVW≤4,500	11.5^a	10.6^b
4,500<GVW≤5,500	12.2^a	11.0^b
5,500<GVW≤7,000	13.8^a	12.3^b
7,000<GVW≤8,500	16.3^a	14.4^b
8,500<GVW≤10,500	18.3^a	16.2^b
10,500<GVW≤12,500	21.3^a	18.8^b
12,500<GVW≤16,000	24.0^a	21.2
16,000<GVW≤20,000	27.0^a	23.9
20,000<GVW≤25,000	32.5^a	29.5
25,000<GVW≤31,000	37.5^a	33.7
31,000<GVW	38.5^a	34.6
^a For Phase III gasoline vehicles, the limit is 1.2 times this value. ^b For Phase IV gasoline vehicles, the limit is 1.3 times this value.

**Table 2.** Fuel consumption limits for tractor-trailers, L/100km
GVW, kg	Phase III	Phase IV
GVW≤18,000	28	24.3
18,000<GVW≤27,000	30.5	26.5
27,000<GVW≤35,000	32	27.8
35,000<GVW≤40,000	34	29.5
40,000<GVW≤43,000	35.5	31.2
43,000<GVW≤46,000	38	33.7
46,000<GVW≤49,000	40	35.8
49,000<GVW	40.5	35.9

**Table 3.** Fuel consumption limits for coaches, L/100km
GVW, kg	Phase III	Phase IV
3,500<GVW≤4,500	10.6^a	9.7^b
4,500<GVW≤5,500	11.5^a	11.4^b
5,500<GVW≤7,000	13.3^a	13.1^b
7,000<GVW≤8,500	14.5	14.3
8,500<GVW≤10,500	16	15.8
10,500<GVW≤12,500	17.7	17.8
12,500<GVW≤14,500	19.1	19.4
14,500<GVW≤16,500	19.1	20.6
16,500<GVW≤18,000	20.1	21.9
18,000<GVW≤22,000	22.3	23.1
22,000<GVW≤25,000	24	25
25,000<GVW	25	26.2
^a For Phase III gasoline vehicles, the limit is 1.2 times this value. ^b For Phase IV gasoline vehicles, the limit is 1.3 times this value.

**Table 4.** Fuel consumption limits for dump trucks, L/100km
GVW, kg	Phase III	Phase IV
3,500<GVW≤4,500	13	12
4,500<GVW≤5,500	13.5	12.5
5,500<GVW≤7,000	15.0^a	13.9
7,000<GVW≤8,500	17.5	16.2
8,500<GVW≤10,500	19.5	18
10,500<GVW≤12,500	22	20.3
12,500<GVW≤16,000	25	23.1
16,000<GVW≤20,000	29.5	27.3
20,000<GVW≤25,000	37.5	35
25,000<GVW≤31,000	41	38.2
31,000<GVW	41.5	38.7
^a For Phase III gasoline vehicles, the limit is 1.2 times this value.

**Table 5.** Fuel consumption limits for city buses, L/100km
GVW, kg	Phase III	Phase IV^d
3,500<GVW≤4,500	11.5	10.9^c
4,500<GVW≤5,500	13	12.5^c
5,500<GVW≤7,000	14.7	14.3^c
7,000<GVW≤8,500	16.7	16.5^c
8,500<GVW≤10,500	19.4	19.4^c
10,500<GVW≤12,500	22.3	22.6^c
12,500<GVW≤14,500	25.5	26.1^c
14,500<GVW≤16,500	25.5	29
16,500<GVW≤18,000	28	32.5
18,000<GVW≤22,000	34.5	36.5
22,000<GVW≤25,000	38.5	41.2
25,000<GVW	41.5	44.9
^c For specialized school buses, the limit is 1.15 times this value. ^d For hybrid city buses (externally rechargeable and non-externally rechargeable) tested at 65% of the GVW according to GB/T 19754-2021, the limit value corresponding to a GVW of the vehicle’s GVW minus 35% shall be used.