Europe closes the fence on nitrogen oxide emissions in the car

Tomorrow, September 1, a complementary regulation enters into force throughout the European Union to increase control over emissions of polluting gases in the automotive industry. The RDE (for its acronym in English of Real Driving Emissions) is a protocol that acts on the measurement of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that vehicles can emit (maximum of 0.08 grams / kilometer in diesel and 0.06 grams / kilometer in gasoline).

These figures were something that manufacturers already measured in their laboratory tests, but now they will have to be refined because they will be stricter having to be done in real driving conditions.

With this new protocol associated with the ‘Euro6 d-Temp Evap-Isc’ standard, which is added to the WLTP (Global Harmonized Procedure for Testing in Light Vehicles) measurement implemented in September last year for consumption and CO2, the vehicles that are manufactured (and marketed) from now on in the European Union will face one of the most demanding anti-pollution legislation in the world.

Millionaire investment

All this is a technological siege to harmful gases, which car manufacturers have accepted. The executive vice president of the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac), Mario Armero, acknowledges that manufacturers have invested more than 50,000 million euros in the last five years to improve the environmental impact. Anfac values “very positive the introduction of these new regulations, in the face of the progressive aging of the Spanish car fleet”, which stands at 12.4 years on average in 2018. That means that the reduction of emissions and particles is not perceived.

In the last 15 years, systems have been implemented that have made it possible to significantly reduce the levels of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, especially in diesel vehicles. The use of filters and catalysts allows to eliminate 99% of the particles (PMA) and reduce NOx levels by up to 84%.

More rigorous testing

The tests are carried out with specific measuring equipment. The vehicles travel for a certain time, public roads that meet certain requirements (urban roads, interurban or highways) and in a wide range of conditions (altitudes, slopes, ambient temperature, traffic and vehicle load). The installed equipment collects data to verify that legislative limits for pollutants such as particulate matter and NOx are not exceeded.

For this, almost all diesel vehicles must have selective catalytic reduction (SCR) or Lean-NOx systems, among others, while direct injection gasoline models will require particulate filters, which implies additional costs for manufacturers that have had to expand their test benches. The RDE measurements are carried out in ten days for each vehicle tested.

Market instability

The arrival of this new standard is added to other factors that cause the instability of the sector to proliferate. To the fall in registrations is added the regulatory horizon of 2021. On that date the average emissions of each brand must be 95 grams per kilometer, sanctioned with 95 euros each gram exceeded multiplied by the number of vehicles sold in 2020. Some manufacturers have even considered reducing production to alleviate fines, with the destruction of jobs that this may entail.

In addition, one of the problems associated with the psychological sequelae of dieselgate (starting point of the legislative escalation) has been the increase in sales of gasoline cars. NOx emissions (which will be measured by the RDE) are today similar between the two fuels, but not the _CO2 that is higher in gasoline engines. Result: _CO2 emissions have increased, although tax collection has also increased since car taxation in Spain is linked to _CO2. There is no evil that for good does not come, they will think from the administrations that then put on the ecological cap.

Saved self-registrations?

The automotive market will register a new fall this August, about 37% compared to the same month of 2018, which represents a consecutive decrease of eleven months.

However, the entry into force of the EDR will mean an increase in tactical registrations. The ‘self-registrations’ of last summer 2018 by the WLTP made the market grow explosively with a 48.7% increase. Now, “with the new regulations many dealers have been forced to self-register vehicles before September 1, which has meant the creation of a bag of Km 0 vehicles in dealerships at very attractive prices,” says Raúl Morales, director of communication of Faconauto (dealer association).

Despite this, Morales points out that: “We come from a negative outlook that for many vehicles that have been self-registered before September of this year due to the entry of the RDE, this situation will not be reversed.”

Source: The Newspaper