ACEA, the association of European automakers, has welcomed the 'more stringent emissions tests' for vehicles coming into effect in the EU on 1 September. The testing of new vehicles for harmful emissions has been a controversial subject in recent years, the controversy further heightened by Volkswagen's 'dieselgate' woes.
ACEA says the new laboratory test, called WLTP, will introduce much more realistic testing conditions for measuring pollutant and CO2 emissions than the previous, outdated lab test (NEDC). It will therefore 'provide a more accurate basis for measuring a vehicle's fuel consumption and emissions'.
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An additional new test to measure pollutant emissions on the road – known as the real driving emissions (RDE) test – will also apply, making Europe the only region in the world to implement such testing, ACEA says.
Under RDE, a car will be driven on public roads over a wide range of conditions using portable measuring equipment. RDE will complement WLTP to ensure that pollutant emission levels, measured during the laboratory test, are confirmed on the road. It follows widespread criticism of previous bench testing methods, viewed as producing artificially low levels of fuel consumption (and pollutants) compared with real world conditions.
"The automobile industry has invested heavily to achieve significant improvements in emissions from RDE-compliant Euro 6 vehicles," said ACEA Secretary General, Erik Jonnaert.
"Indeed, these diesel vehicles will deliver very low pollutant emissions not only in the laboratory, but also on the road. We believe that the introduction of this latest generation of diesel vehicles, supported by fleet renewal plans, will play a strong role in helping cities move towards compliance with EU air quality targets."
ACEA also welcomed the fact that with RDE there is now one common EU-wide test to measure on-the-road emissions of cars. It said this should help prevent the confusion caused by using a multitude of different tests, each with varying and incomparable methods and results – such as those recently proposed by some local governments, cities and other stakeholders.
