A few days ago, the European Court of Auditors raised key questions on how to measure CO2 emissions in cars, questioning their credibility – and therefore the effectiveness of reducing emissions in the European Union.
Now, in report he publishedargues that as measured, CO2 emissions do not always reflect reality and that the actual emissions from conventional cars in the EU have not decreased compared to 12 years ago. He estimates that the electric cars will be the main “weapon” in a more “green” direction, however he points out that their sales aren't growing “as fast as they should”.
According to estatement he published on Wednesday afternoon (24/1) the European Court of Auditors (ECA), the EU's target values for reducing CO2 emissions from the new passenger cars are not possible as long as important prerequisites are not met. Despite high ambitions and strict requirements, mostly passenger cars circulating in the EU they still emit the same amount of CO2 as 12 years ago. Electric vehicles can help the EU reach its goal of a zero-emission car fleet. In any case, the EAC warns that efforts in this direction must be intensified.
The “Car CO2 Regulation” defines, since 2010, target price for the entire EU vehicle fleet, which concerns average CO2 emissions from first-class cars. Furthermore, each manufacturer – who must declare in the certificate of conformity the CO2 emissions of a vehicle – has to pay a price for excess emissions in case of non-achievement of the target values of specific emissions. Ambitions have increased over time, with a target of approx zero emissions for 2035 to be seen on the horizon.
“The EU's green revolution will only be possible if polluting vehicles will be greatly reduced· the challenge, however, is huge”stated Peter RussoMember of the EAC and responsible for control. “The real and tangible reduction in CO2 emissions from cars it is not going to be achieved as long as internal combustion engines dominate. At the same time, the electrification of the EU car fleet is a monumental undertaking.”
In the 2010s, car manufacturers, exploiting gaps that existed in the testing requirements, recorded reduced emissions in the laboratory. THE deviation from actual emissionsi.e. the emissions in real driving conditions, were huge. Therefore, and in continuation of dieselgate scandalhim September 2017 one became mandatory new cycle of laboratory tests which better reflected the actual driving conditions. The deviation was thus significantly reduced between emissions under laboratory conditions and those under real driving conditions (but without being eliminated).
The EAC points out that actual emissions from conventional cars – which still account for nearly three quarters of new vehicle registrations – remain undiminished. Over the past decade, emissions have remained fixed for diesel engines cars, while for the petrol engines saw a marginal decrease (-4.6 %). Technological progress in terms of engine efficiency is surpassed the increased mass of vehicles (about 10% on average) and the more powerful engines (25% on average).
This it also applies to hybrid carswhose actual CO2 emissions tend to they far exceed those recorded in the laboratory. In an effort to better capture the current situation, it is going to readjust the proportion of use electric motors and internal combustion engines, but not before 2025. Until then, plug-in hybrid vehicles will continue to be treated as low emission vehicles, which favors car manufacturers. Also, until then the car manufacturers they will continue to benefit from certain provisions of the regulation on CO2 emissions, which allowed them, for 2020 only, to save almost 13 billion euros at excess emissions prices.
According to the EAC, the reduction in average CO2 emissions in real driving conditions that has occurred in recent years is solely due to electric vehicles (whose new classifications were launched, from 1 in 100 cars it 2018 in almost 1 in 7 cars the 2022). However, the road it is paved with obstaclesas the EU faces significant difficulties that do not allow it to accelerate the spread of electric vehicles.
The first hurdle to overcome is access to raw materials to manufacture a sufficient number of batteries, as pointed out in a recent ECA report. Also, the EAC has already expressed its concern in the past regarding the inadequacy of charging infrastructure: the 70% of all chargers of car batteries in the EU concentrated in just three countries (Netherlands, France and Germany). Finally, a determining factor is the financial possibility of acquiring an electric vehicle: given the higher initial cost of these vehicles, consumers they may prefer to keep their old polluting vehicles for a longer period of time.
General information
Although the EU has succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in many sectors over the last three decades, CO2 from the transport sector continued to grow. The 2021this corresponded to 23% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions, with over half of that number coming from passenger cars. The manufacturers can reduce CO2 emissions producing cars that consume less fuel (eg diesel or petrol), factor zero emission vehicles (e.g. electric cars), or combining both technologies (in the form plug-in hybrid vehicles).
THE regulation on performance standards for CO2 emissions from new passenger cars is the key EU legislation which aims to reduce specific emissions from new cars. You approve it 2009underwent significant modifications the 2019. For the purposes of this regulation, the CO2 emissions from a single car based on measurements under standardized laboratory conditionsas opposed to emissions measured in real driving conditions.
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