BMW, partners report successful interim results from HVO demo fleet
BMW Group announced Oct. 28 that the test and demonstration fleet that the carmaker and its participating partners are running on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) reported its first successful interim results in October.
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 data on refueling transactions and fuel type used are reliably documented centrally by the BMW Group.
The stated goal: In addition to electrification, all operators of vehicles with modern internal-combustion engines should be given the opportunity to decarbonize their individual mobility.
Renewable fuels offer potential in this regard.
“We want to consistently harness the CO2-reduction potential offered by renewable fuels in Europe,” said Martin Kaufmann, the senior vice president of powertrain development at the BMW Group. “To this end, our team has developed a technical solution that has been tested under real-world conditions in four countries across more than 600 vehicles over the past 12 months. The results speak for themselves. During this period, we were able to consistently document more than 5,500 refueling events with a HVO usage rate exceeding 80 percent. And this was achieved without any hardware modifications to the vehicles and without new infrastructure at the gas stations. We therefore consider the technical feasibility of a ‘VEEF-only’ fleet to be proven. This sends a strong signal to policymakers to promote technology openness and to set the course for the future and resilience of the industry—especially in Europe.”
The key-finding after 12 months is that the technical solution deployed works and delivers reliable data:
In total, more than 5,500 refueling events across over 600 vehicles were recorded while accurately detecting the type of fuel dispensed.
Approximately 235,000 liters of HVO were refueled.
This means in more than 80 percent of the refueling events, HVO has been verifiably used.
This took advantage of the steadily growing availability of HVO at gas stations across Europe. As of October, HVO is available at 6,130 stations.
Since January 2025, all BMW Group diesel models produced in Germany have been filled with unblended HVO before being delivered to dealerships.
Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ HVO is used at the BMW Group plants in Dingolfing, Regensburg and Leipzig.
The fuel from the Finnish manufacturer Neste enables a well-to-wheel CO2e reduction of up to 90 percent compared to fossil diesel.
Furthermore, to raise awareness about renewable fuels, BMW Italia is providing an Enilive HVO voucher to all private customers of new BMW diesel vehicles in Italy.
Technical compatibility
The BMW Group has long certified its vehicles for a wide range of renewable fuels: HVO in accordance with EN 15940, as well as B10 and eFuels in accordance with EN 590 for diesel engines.
Additionally, E20/25 and eFuels in accordance with EN 228 for gasoline engines.
Relevance for gasoline engines
Given the European and global significance of gasoline internal-combustion engines, the BMW Group welcomes the political initiative to approve E20 gasoline across Europe.
The BMW Group said it regards E20 as a key factor in increasing the proportion of renewable components in petrol—for both the current fleet and a future VEEF fleet.
Since July 2026, the BMW Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Repsol and Bosch have been running a pilot project in Spain to test the exclusive use of “Nexa 95” under real-world conditions.
Here too, as with the HVO test and demonstration fleet, the stated aim is to demonstrate how it is possible to verify, without any gaps, which type of fuel is being used by the participating vehicles.
As part of the initiative, a fleet of around 20 vehicles with petrol engines from the BMW, Mini and Toyota brands is being deployed in the Greater Madrid area.
Outlook
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ), Freyberger Engineering GmbH and BMW AG presented a study on this topic in March.
The title of the study is “From raw material to fossil-free mobility: Europe’s potential for a renewable fuel market.”
From the study’s management summary: “The transformation of the entire transportation sector toward petroleum-free energy sources presents a challenge that cannot be met solely through the electrification of powertrains. It is therefore essential to leverage the CO2-reduction potential of all energy sources.
“The focus here—in addition to hydrogen, for example—is primarily on liquid fuels that can be integrated into the supply infrastructure without technical modifications.
“Renewable fuels—known as carbon-neutral fuels (CNF)—are a collective term that encompasses all fuels with a lower CO2 footprint than fossil fuels.
“This study examines the substitution potential of advanced, renewable fuels derived from biological feedstocks relative to fossil fuels across all sectors in the EU.
“Based on current scientific literature and various scenarios, this study analyzes the availability of advanced feedstocks, their conversion into renewable fuels, and the evolution of fuel demand in the European Union’s road-transport sector for the target years 2030, 2035 and 2040.”
The full study can be found here.
