EU Cars Beat CO2 Emissions Target Two Years Early

BRUSSELS – Average carbon-dioxide emissions of new cars sold in the European Union in 2013 are below the EU’s 2015 required level, final statistics to be published by the European Environment Agency in the fall are expected to confirm.

Provisional figures released April 30 by the agency show new cars’ emissions averaged 127 g/km in 2013, less than the 2015 target of 130 g/km mandated by the EU in 2009. The values refer to average emissions of the 2013 EU fleet and do not give an estimate of whether individual EU automakers have met their own target.

Final data on manufacturers’ individual performance also is expected in the fall.

The provisional figures show average CO2 emissions in Europe have continued to decline, with cars sold in 2013 being 4% more efficient than those sold the year before.

“The average car sold last year was almost 10% more efficient than the average car sold in 2010, when monitoring started,” EEA Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx adds.

European cars’ efficiency in emitting less CO2 has been driven mainly by technological improvements and higher sales of diesel-fueled cars, which typically have lower emissions levels than their gasoline-powered equivalents. Even so, the efficiency gap between the two types of fuels has been narrowing; it was 10 times higher in 2000 than it is now, the EEA data shows.

“The automobile industry invests a large portion of its annual €32 billion ($44 billion) spend on research and development into technologies that help lower fuel consumption – for instance, engine-efficiency technology, lightweighting, aerodynamic design,” a spokeswoman for the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association tells WardsAuto.

European automakers also have increased the mix of alternative fuels in their fleets, including advanced gasoline and diesel, natural gas, hydrogen and biomethane, as well as powertrains such as plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles and all-electric cars.

There were 24,000 electric vehicles registered in the EU in 2013, which is a small fraction of the fleet but a 71 % increase over 2012, according to the EEA. Of 11.8 million new cars registered in the EU last year, about 31,000 were PHEVs.

Even if CO2 emissions were trending downward before EU legislation imposing targets was enacted, an EEA spokesman says regulation has a role in reducing emissions at a faster pace.

“Since the regulation was announced in 2009 average (CO2) emissions have fallen by 18.3 g/km, a decrease of 4.7 g/km per year, while between 2000 and 2009 emissions fell at a rate of 2.9 g/km per year,” he says.

Connie Hedegaard, the EU’s climate action commissioner, believes the data shows how the EU legislation is driving change.

“It also shows that European car makers are already steering towards the 2021 target of (95 g/km) and therefore proving us right when we said that the 2015 target was both achievable and cost-effective," she says.

On average in 2013, the EEA data shows, the most efficient cars were bought in the Netherlands (109 g/km), Greece (111 g/km) and Portugal (112 g/km). The least-efficient cars were bought in Latvia and Estonia (147 g/km), followed by Bulgaria (142 g/km), suggesting an East-West split on emissions persists in Europe.