VEEF: Toyota Proposes New Category for ICE Cars Using Renewable Fuel

October 16, 2026

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by Felix Page (Autocar) Europe has enough biomass to power 300 million ICE cars until 2040, and they should be treated like EVs -- Toyota has proposed a new 'VEEF' category for cars which run on renewable fuels and said such models should be treated in the same way as electric cars in Europe.

Sanding for 'Vehicles running Exclusively on Eligible Fuels', VEEF would accord renewable fuel-powered ICE cars the same incentives as battery-electric alternatives, in recognition that they can achieve a similar recution in CO2 on a well-to-wheel basis.

Toyota said renewable fuels should be officially recognised as a zero-emission solution by the EU, and that regulatory support for the new category would enable Europe to dramatically cut emissions from the 300 million ICE vehicles already on the regions' roads today, accelerating decarbonisation efforts in parallel with wider adoption of electric alternatives.

Toyota has long been a vocal advocate of renewable fuel, using them in various motorsport applications and partnering a number of other automotive firms to evaluate it for real-world use.

Over the past six months, it has collaborated with BMW, Bosch and energy company Repsol on a trial in Spain, where some 20 production-spec cars were operated using 100% renewable fuel over six months to prove the viability of the technology.

The fuel, made from residual biomass, is said to have no impact on a car's performance and requires no modifications to its mechanicals.

Toyota said the trial proved that such fuels work in real-world situations and that they can be supplied using existing fuelling infrastructure - whereas BEVs and hydrogen FCEVs need their own networks of expensive bespoke chargers and pumps.

Bosch's contribution to the trial was in ensuring the traceability of the fuel used – crucial to determining its environmental credentials – and ensuring that any cars involved only used the renewable fuel.

Any ICE car designated as a VEEF under the proposals would have to be blocked from running on conventional petrol - likely using technology to determine the type of fuel nozzle used at a fill-up.

Toyota acknowledged that production of renewable fuels is currently far too low to power vehicles on any meaningful scale but said the creation of a new regulatory framework for VEEFs would lay the foundations for the industry to scale up.

The specific fuel posited by Toyota as an alternative to batteries or hydrogen is second-generation biofuel, made using waste residue from organic products - much cheaper to produce than the fully synthetic e-fuel being produced by Porsche, for example.

Toyota estimates that at current levels, there's enough biomass in Europe to sustain the region's ICE vehicle fleet through to 2040.

"If we are serious about reducing carbon emissions as much and as fast as possible, renewable fuels have a big role to play," said Toyota Europe's chief technical office, Shinichi Yasui.

R&D boss Thiebault Paquet concurred and said that compared with BEVs and FCEVs, they "do not require much investment on the vehicle side, because they're 'drop-in' fuels - they can be used and we don't have to change anything. READ MORE

Related articles

BMW, Toyota, Bosch and Repsol launch real-world pilot of vehicles running on 100% renewable gasoline (BMW Group)
BWM’s HVO test and demo fleet reports success in its first review (Biofuels Digest)
BMW HVO fleet logs renewable diesel in over 80% of fills (Automotive World)

Excerpt from BMW Group: The pilot will provide real-world evidence that renewable fuels can be deployed at scale today using existing vehicles, refuelling infrastructure and digital certification technologies.

-BMW Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Repsol and Bosch are launching a pilot in Spain to demonstrate under real-world conditions how existing vehicles can operate exclusively on 100% renewable gasoline.

-The six-month initiative, which began in July 2026, will deploy Toyota and BMW vehicles powered by Repsol’s Nexa 95 100% renewable gasoline, supported by Bosch’s digital fuel tracking system.

-The pilot will provide real-world evidence that renewable fuels can be deployed at scale today using existing vehicles, refuelling infrastructure and digital certification technologies.

Munich, 15 July 2026 – The BMW Group, in collaboration with Toyota Motor Europe (TME), Bosch and Repsol, today announces the launch of a pioneering six-month pilot project in Spain. The pilot, which started in early July, will demonstrate the real-world potential of Vehicles running Exclusively on Eligible Fuels (VEEF)*.

The initiative will deploy a fleet of around 20 Toyota and BMW vehicles, powered by Repsol’s 100% renewable gasoline (Nexa 95), and supported by Bosch’s advanced digital fuel tracking technology.

This pilot aims to provide tangible, real-world evidence that Vehicles Exclusively running on Eligible Fuels can be effectively deployed at scale, supporting Europe’s transition to decarbonise mobility through a complementary, technology-neutral approach while leaving no one behind.

"Technology openness is a key pillar of the BMW Group strategy – at the same time our goal is always to have more environmentally friendly and efficient vehicles on the road. Our vehicles as a part of this future oriented pilot, will help to gain valuable data helping us to offer our global customer the best and most efficient powertrain also in the future.” says Dr. Stefan Heller, Head of Development of the VEEF programme at BMW Group.

The pilot will focus on three key objectives:
-Availability of renewable gasoline in the market – leveraging Repsol’s infrastructure, currently the only provider of 100% renewable gasoline at public fuel stations in Spain
-Readiness of digital tracking and certification technologies – enabled by Bosch’s “Digital Fuel Twin” system, which certifies renewable fuel usage across the full lifecycle
-Operational deployment of VEEF fleets – demonstrating that existing vehicles can run today on 100% renewable fuels using existing infrastructure

Bosch’s system will collect and validate refuelling data from multiple sources, including vehicle data, fuel stations and fuel card transactions, ensuring robust, transparent tracking of renewable fuel usage.

“With our 'Digital Fuel Twin,' Bosch is bringing full digital transparency to the entire fuel value chain to reliably track and verify the renewable fuels from the moment they enter the market right down to the end consumer. By precisely monitoring fuel usage on individual vehicles in real-time, we are building the foundation of trust and regulatory compliance needed for higher acceptance of renewable fuels in the mobility and transport sector”, says Dr Marko Babic, Head of Product Area at Bosch– in charge of the Digital Fuel Twin.

A scalable solution using existing vehicles and infrastructure
Unlike solutions that require new vehicle technologies or infrastructure investments, the pilot uses existing Toyota and Lexus passenger cars provided by Toyota España (TES), and BMW Group fleet vehicles.

It highlights the immediate scalability of renewable fuels as a drop-in solution for decarbonising road transport. Repsol’s Nexa 95 renewable gasoline is produced from RED-compliant feedstocks, offering significant greenhouse gas reductions compared to fossil fuels, while remaining fully compatible with today’s gasoline engines and infrastructure.

Spain has been selected as the optimal location for this demonstration due to the availability of renewable gasoline, strong partner collaboration, and Toyota España’s operational support.

“At Repsol, we believe every emissions-reduction solution has a role to play in decarbonizing transport. This project underscores how renewable fuels can expand consumer choice, offering another way to reduce carbon footprints using existing vehicles and infrastructure. As the only company currently supplying 100% renewable gasoline at public service stations in Spain, Repsol is proud to contribute its expertise and infrastructure alongside Toyota, BMW, and Bosch. The project’s real-world data will demonstrate the value of a technology-neutral approach to Europe’s mobility transition”. – Estíbaliz Pombo, Deputy Director of Energy Products at Repsol

Strengthening the case for technology neutrality in Europe The pilot is designed to generate robust data and insights that will support ongoing European policy discussions on decarbonising the automotive sector.

With EU policy currently focused predominantly on electrification, the project aims to demonstrate that renewable fuels can play a complementary and scalable role in reducing CO₂ emissions. Data and intermediate findings from the pilot will be shared with EU policymakers, industry stakeholders and media audiences, contributing to discussions around technology neutrality and the potential inclusion of VEEF vehicles within future regulatory frameworks.

“We believe renewable fuels can play a key role alongside electrification in reducing CO₂ emissions. As the transition progresses, it is becoming clear that there is a growing risk that 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2035 may not be fully achieved. In such a scenario, renewable fuels can help bridge the gap to deliver carbon neutrality, especially when combined with hybrid and plug-in hybrid technologies. This pilot aims to demonstrate how renewable fuels can make a meaningful and sustainable contribution to decarbonisation today, for both new and existing vehicles.” — Pascal Ruch, Vice President Corporate & Governmental Affairs, Toyota Motor Europe

Driving measurable impact
A key success factor of the project will be promoting the effective use of renewable fuel across the fleet, supporting emissions reductions and advocacy impact. The pilot will also provide valuable insights for R&D validation and monitoring methods, the scalability of existing approaches for tracking physical fueling, and fuel operator’s ability to link fuel consumption to individual vehicles.

* Eligible fuels: Refers to renewable and low-carbon fuels that comply with EU sustainability criteria under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and deliver significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions on a well-to-wheel basis compared to fossil fuels. This includes sustainably produced biofuels and renewable fuels derived from waste, residues or renewable energy sources, as recognised in ACEA and FuelsEurope positions supporting the deployment of Vehicles Exclusively running on Eligible Fuels (VEEF). READ MORE

Excerpt from Biofuels Digest: In Germany, HVO Test- and Demo fleet operated by the BMW Group and its participating partners reported its first successful interim results in October 2026.

Over 600 BMW and MINI vehicles with highly efficient diesel engines tested the BMW Group’s technology for a “VEEF” vehicle category under real-world conditions, during the period under review. (“VEEF” stands for “Vehicles Exclusively running on Eligible Fuels”).

At the heart of this technology: Data on the refueling process from the vehicle is cross-referenced with data from the fleet operator’s payment systems and, for part of the fleet, additionally with fuel station data from Bosch’s Digital Fuel Twin. This allows for seamless tracking, via multiple digital channels, of which fuel the vehicle has refueled with.

The Test- and Demonstration fleet was launched in October 2025 at the “Fleet Europe Days” trade show in Luxembourg. Since then, the vehicles have been in use in the corporate fleets of the BMW Group, as well as Bosch in Germany, Eni in Italy, and Repsol in Spain. All refueling transactions and fuel type used data are reliably documented centrally by the BMW Group. READ MORE

Excerpt from Automotive World: BMW calls the proposed class Vehicles Exclusively running on Eligible Fuels (VEEF). Dr Martin Kaufmann, Senior Vice President, Powertrain Development, said the results prove a VEEF-only fleet is technically feasible and urged policymakers to support technology openness.

All German-built BMW diesels have left the factory filled with unblended HVO since January 2025, and the fuel is now sold at 6,130 European stations. Supplier Neste says its HVO cuts well-to-wheel CO2-equivalent emissions by up to 90% against fossil diesel.

A smaller pilot with Bosch, Repsol and Toyota Motor Europe has run since July 2026 around Madrid, where about 20 BMW, Mini and Toyota gasoline cars use only Nexa 95 fuel. BMW also backs Europe-wide approval of E20 gasoline. READ MORE