Global comparison of light truck/light commercial vehicle fuel economy standards (in mpg or km/L under CAFE test cycle). Source: The ICCT. Click to enlarge.

The fuel economy of individual models will be measured on the JC08 test cycle, with a 25% and 75% weighting for cold- and hot-start fuel economy, respectively.

Per-model targets will be developed as a function of body and fuel type, transmission, and curb mass. The number of standard bins will be reduced from 77 under the 2015 standards to 38 under the revised standards.

Individual companies will have to demonstrate compliance via a corporate average fuel economy approach with harmonic averaging. Manufacturers can use the production of plug-in hybrid and battery electric commercial vehicles to comply with their corporate average targets, with some limitations.

When a company produces commercial vehicles with alternative drive trains, the corporate average fuel economy for its diesel and gasoline vehicles alone must be at least 90% of its overall regulatory target imposed by the standard. Provisions for labeling are also outlined in the final report.

MLIT and METI estimate that the transport sector is currently responsible for 23% of energy use in Japan, a little over a third of which is linked to freight transport. In total, motor vehicles are responsible for 16% of CO₂ emissions in Japan.