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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Table of contents

1. What is the VECTO software and VECTO software platform?

The Vehicle Energy Consumption calculation TOol (VECTO) is a software developed by the European Commission for determining CO2 emissions and fuel consumption from the whole vehicle. VECTO was introduced in the European vehicle type-approval regulation in May 2017, as the official tool used in Europe to certify and monitor the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from HDV. VECTO software platform consists of VECTO software and a series of other software tools developed for the needs of the HDV certification procedure. Those include VECTO Engine, VECTO AirDrag, and VECTO Hashing tools, which are used at various points during the certification process

2. What is the relation between VECTO and official CO2 certification methodology for HDVs?

VECTO is a key component of the European Heavy Duty Vehicle CO2 and fuel consumption certification methodology. The CO2 certification methodology is based on the measurement of the performance of different vehicle components contributing to the vehicle energy consumption (aerodynamic drag, torque losses in the drivetrain, fuel map of the engine, power demand of auxiliaries, tyre-rolling resistance, etc.). The results of these measurements are then used as input in VECTO in order to simulate vehicle operation over different driving conditions. A series of official driving cycles have been developed for the purpose.

3. Do I need a license file to run VECTO?

No. A license used to be required in the past, but this practice is no longer applicable.
This applies to all VECTO tools (VECTO, VECTO Multistep, VECTO Trailer, VECTO Engine, VECTO Airdrag, and VECTO Hashing).

4. How VECTO has been developed?

VECTO and the respective certification methodology were developed under a series of contracts launched by DG CLIMA. A summary of the main ones can be found here. The Commission’s JRC acts as scientific co-ordinator of the VECTO development and has performed a series of independent validations, the main results of which can be found here. Several stakeholders have contributed significantly in the development process by providing data, feedback, insight and by validating extensively VECTO and its sub-routines; those include heavy duty vehicle manufacturers, transmission manufacturers, tyre manufacturers, vehicle component suppliers, heavy duty vehicle body-builders and other industrial stakeholders. In addition, a series of non-industrial organizations have supported the development with feedback and validation exercises including European member states, research bodies and other organizations.

5. Can I run VECTO Simulator in batch mode/from the command line?

This can be accomplished by using the command line version of VECTO: vectocmd.exe. This executable file comes with the normal VECTO package. Check the corresponding section of the manual:

  • Navigate to the User manual folder, the file is named help.html.
  • Open it with a browser and then look for the section Command Line Arguments.

6. How to cite VECTO?

For further information about the platform and support, please see https://code.europa.eu/info/about