Fuel-efficiency tool for trucks may be ready by Dec, launch likely in Feb

India’s first certification tool to assess the fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of medium and heavy commercial vehicles is likely to be ready by December, with The Automotive Research Association of India (Arai) targeting its launch at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo, scheduled for February 4-9, 2027, government officials told Business Standard. 

At the same time, a senior official of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) suggested to Arai that implementing the tool for heavy-duty vehicles could align with Bharat Stage-VII — the next stage of India’s vehicle emission norms — which is expected to be rolled out from the middle of 2027 onwards, officials said. Arai works under the Ministry of Heavy Industries. 

The tool’s scope will eventually go beyond diesel trucks, with its second phase set to cover range calculations for electric commercial vehicles (eCVs), officials said. This could give the government a standardised way to determine how far electric trucks and buses can travel on a single charge under different operating conditions, as electrification of the commercial vehicle (CV) segment gathers pace. 

Officials said Arai has completed field trials and acquired data from all 16 diesel-run vehicles being tested for the project, while input generation for four proof-of-concept (PoC) vehicles has also been completed. 

A PoC is an initial exercise to demonstrate that a system works as intended. 

A beta version of the tool, known as Bharat Vecto, was targeted for release to vehicle manufacturers by July for evaluation and feedback, officials said. Moreover, Arai was also developing eight “mission profiles”, which are standardised operating patterns designed to represent different ways trucks and buses are used in India. These could capture differences in factors such as speed, load, route, and driving conditions, allowing the tool to assess vehicle performance under conditions more representative of actual operations. The profiles were also targeted for completion by July. 

It is not clear whether these profiles and the beta version of the tool have been shared with vehicle makers for evaluation and feedback. Business Standard emailed queries to MoRTH, Arai, and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers regarding the Bharat Vecto programme. They did not respond to the queries until the time of going to press. 

Meanwhile, Arai has also submitted a draft notification on Bharat Vecto to MoRTH for consideration, according to officials. Arai was also preparing AIS 218, an Automotive Industry Standard that will set out the technical methodology and requirements for Bharat Vecto. 

For the CV industry, the tool could change how manufacturers design and optimise trucks, as fuel efficiency and CO2 performance would be assessed across different operating conditions rather than at a single fixed speed. This could push manufacturers to improve the efficiency of the entire vehicle — including the engine, transmission, tyres, and aerodynamics — while giving fleet operators a more standardised basis to compare vehicles. For eCVs, the system could similarly encourage optimisation of battery size, vehicle weight, motor efficiency, and other parameters that determine driving range. 

Bharat Vecto will use technical information about a vehicle, including its engine, transmission, weight, tyres, and other characteristics, to simulate its performance over these standardised operating patterns. It will then calculate the vehicle’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. 

In its second phase, Bharat Vecto is expected to shift towards electricity consumption and driving-range calculations for eCVs. Since electric vehicles do not consume liquid fuel, the system would assess how far an electric truck or bus can travel on a given battery charge under standardised operating conditions. 

Measuring performance 

• Arai completed field trials and collected data from all 16 diesel vehicles tested
• Second phase will extend to eCVs, to enable standardised range estimates for etrucks and ebuses under different operating conditions
• Bharat VECTO, a beta version, was targeted for release to manufacturers by July for evaluation and feedback
• Arai is also developing eight mission profiles to standardise truck and bus operating patterns in India