CO2 Emissions Escaping Through Loopholes, Critics Say

BRUSSELS – Carbon-dioxide emissions from new cars sold in the European Union last year were below the bloc’s 2015 target of 130 g/km, according to the European Environment Agency. But consumer and environmental groups accuse automakers of benefiting from loopholes in the test cycle.

The EEA says new cars sold in the 28 EU member states in 2014 emitted on average 2.6% less CO2 than those sold in 2013 and were almost 7 g/km below the 2015 target. Provisional data shows average CO2 emissions of a new car sold in 2014 was 123.4 g/km, a level “significantly below” this year’s 130 g/km target.

The Copenhagen-based agency notes since monitoring started under current legislation in 2010, CO2 emissions have decreased 17 g/km (12%). Automakers reached this year’s target by 2013, two years ahead of schedule, and average emissions levels in 2014 were below 130 g/km in 17 member states.

But the EEA warns manufacturers still have a way to go in bringing emissions down to meet the 2021 target of 95 g/km.

The agency says 12.5 million new cars were registered in the EU in 2014. Significantly, consumers in the 15 (largely Western European) countries that were members of the EU before 2004 bought more efficient models than those in the 13 countries (largely Eastern and Southern European) that joined the bloc later.

Dutch consumers opted for the most efficient cars (107 g/km), followed by those in Greece (108 g/km) and Portugal (109 g/km), while Estonians bought the least efficient cars (141 g/km), followed by Latvians (140 g/km) and Bulgarians (136 g/km).

Diesel vehicles remain Europe’s best sellers, making up 53% of sales, but the EEA says fuel efficiency – and so emissions – of gasoline-powered cars has been catching up. The average emissions gap between gasoline and diesel is below 3 g/km, around one-seventh of that in 2000. About 38,000 electric vehicles were registered in the EU in 2014, but made up only 0.3% of registrations.

Automakers Accused of Gaming Test Procedures

The European Consumers’ Organization (BEUC) argues these figures are not as good as they seem.

“This would be excellent news if it wasn’t for the growing body of evidence that monitoring methods are being manipulated, and in turn bringing into doubt the real-life emissions reductions of car makers,” according to a BEUC statement criticizing use of the New European Driving Cycle test protocol.

The BEUC says the NEDC has not kept pace with modern driving behavior and technology, pointing to numerous studies indicating “enormous loopholes in this testing procedure that can be exploited by car manufacturers.”

BEUC highlights a 2014 study by Italian consumer organization Altroconsumo using the NEDC, which found fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of two cars tested were much higher – as much as 50% for one vehicle – than what the automakers declared.

 “As long as the current regime is in place, prospective car buyers will continue to be misled by fuel-economy performances that cannot be replicated in the real world and it will be impossible to truly understand the carbon-cutting performance of the automobile sector,” the BEUC says.

Brussels-based green group Transport and Environment echoes these criticisms, saying most of the improvement notched by automakers was being delivered “through cheating in flawed tests with no benefits for drivers in better fuel economy on the road.”

Greg Archer, T&E clean-vehicles manager, advises treating the figures “with extreme caution” and calls for immediate adoption of the new test cycle – the World Light Duty Test Procedure – that the European Commission plans for 2017, noting automakers want to delay introduction until after 2021 “so they can continue to use the current obsolete system” to meet the 95 g/km target.

Archer also urges a 2025 target of 70 g/km “to continue driving innovation and the shift to electrified transport.”

Both the EEA and the European Automobile Manufacturers Assn. acknowledge the current test cycle failings.

An EEA spokesman tells WardsAuto, “We are aware that there is a difference between the official vehicle emissions measured in the laboratory and real-world emissions.” An EEA note on the figures acknowledges the test cycle “allows a comparison of emissions by manufacturers, but it does not necessarily represent real-world driving conditions.”

The EEA plans a separate report later this year on key reasons for differences observed between official and real-world driving emissions.

An ACEA spokeswoman notes that because the NEDC is a standardized procedure laid down in EU regulations it is necessarily performed under laboratory conditions.

“It has always been fully understood that driving under the NEDC test may be different (from) real-life driving conditions,” she says. “The actual real-world fuel efficiency experienced by drivers varies widely as it depends on many external factors such as traffic conditions, terrain, driving behavior, road type, vehicle load, vehicle condition and weather.

“However,” the spokeswoman says, “the purpose of the legal test is to enable the customer to make reliable comparisons between vehicles in terms of their pollutant and CO2 emissions (i.e., fuel economy), based on a standardized test.”

The auto industry recognizes the NEDC’s limitations and is “actively contributing” to developing the WLTP. “The automobile industry welcomes the replacement of the current NEDC by the WLTP as the basis for future regulatory fuel-consumption and CO2 information, as well as for measuring pollutant emissions,” she said.