International study says EU new car targets should be based on 'footprint' not weight
Tue 26 March 2013
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Basing the EU’s emissions standards on the weight of a vehicle will make it much harder and more expensive to achieve targets, according to an international study recently published. The International Council for Clean Transportation (ICCT) says that, instead, a vehicle’s ‘footprint’ should be the guiding factor.
In the context of CO2 targets, the EU has proposed that the use, or utility, of a car be taken into account – which, in effect the report says, accepts more lenient standards for larger cars. Up to now, the CO2 emissions law has said the weight of a car defines its utility. The problem with using weight for this purpose is that it reduces the incentive for cars to be made lighter: if the weight of the car goes down, the target becomes more stringent as well.
The ICCT report says that using a footprint measure would mean that this problem could be overcome, and a whole new set of options to make cars lighter and more fuel-efficient would become attractive for car makers.
The ICCT report says the estimated additional cost to achieve 95g/km for passenger cars by 2020 is less than €1000 per vehicle relative to 2010, and as low as €600 per vehicle under a footprint-based structure. The estimated additional cost of reaching 147 g/km for vans by 2020 is about €500 per vehicle relative to 2010, and as low as €200 per vehicle when vehicle weight reduction is rewarded.
The report says that 2020 targets can be achieved by improvements to internal combustion engines and moderate weight reduction, with only a few car makers needing to use hybrid technology to hit the targets. Electric or hydrogen vehicles are not required to meet the 95g target.
The USA already bases its fuel consumption and C02 standards for cars on their footprint, both to encourage lighter vehicles and to make cars safer.
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