Brief me
VECTO is the simulation tool that has been developed by the European Commission and is used for determining CO2emissions and Fuel Consumption from Heavy Duty Vehicles (trucks, buses and coaches) with a Gross Vehicle Weight above 3500kg.
Since 1 January 2019, the tool is mandatory for new trucks under certain vehicle categories in application to the certification legislation under type approval.
CO2 emissions and fuel consumption data determined with VECTO, together with other related parameters, must be monitored and reported to the Commission by Member States and manufacturers, and made publicly available for each of those new trucks.
Five different mission profiles for trucks and five different mission profiles for buses and coaches have been developed and implemented in the tool to better reflect the current European fleet. VECTO is a downloadable executable file designed to operate on a single computer.
The inputs for VECTO are characteristic parameters to determine the power consumption of every relevant vehicle component. Among others, the parameters for rolling resistance, air drag, masses and inertias, gearbox friction, auxiliary power and engine performance are input values to simulate fuel consumption and CO2 emissions on standardised driving cycles.

Useful Links
- How to use code.eu: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/how-to-codeu
- VECTO Simulator: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/vecto-sim
- VECTO Multistep: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/vecto-multistep
- VECTO Trailer: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/vecto-trailer
- VECTO Engine: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/vecto-engine
- VECTO Airdrag: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/vecto-airdrag
- VECTO Hashing: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/vecto-hashing
- VECTO DEV Workshops: https://code.europa.eu/groups/vecto/-/wikis/vecto-dev-workshops
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Originally Published | Last Updated | 07 Aug 2025 | 14 Aug 2025 |
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Digital Europa Thesaurus (DET) | carbon dioxidegreenhouse gastransport policyvehicle registration |
Recommended reading
(EU) 2022/1362 - Regulation regarding the performance of heavy-duty trailers and their influence on CO2 emissions, fuel and energy consumption, and zero emission driving range of motor vehicles
(EU) 2022/1379 - Amending Regulation concerning CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of medium and heavy lorries and buses, and to introduce electric vehicles and other new technologies
(EU) 2017/2400 - Regulation regarding the determination of the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles
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