REAL DRIVING EMISSIONS TO FURTHER TIGHTEN STANDARDS FOR LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLES

Europe’s light-duty vehicles and passenger car industry already has the world’s toughest emissions regulation since Euro 6 standards came into force in September 2014. However, this is set to become even stricter as Euro 6c stage of the regulation introduces Real Driving Emissions (RDE) testing.

“Research has revealed the discrepancies between the NOX emissions from light-duty vehicles and passenger cars measured at the point of type approval and those measured during on-road operation” reported Cheryl Tao, Conference Manager at Integer Research. “The European Commission are taking steps to address the issue with their proposal to include Real Driving Emissions testing at Euro 6c stage which is expected to be implemented in 2017”.

Despite some objections from the industry, the European Commission has selected Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) as the key methodology for RDE testing.

“With plans firmly in place for the implementation of RDE testing, vehicle manufactures are anxious to understand the parameters of the tests. The definition of driving conditions, boundary conditions and practical measurement methods have all yet to be decided and OEMs are keen to fully grasp the implications of the tests to ensure that their vehicles are compliant with the standards” revealed Tao.

European Commission considering adopting United Nations WLTP

The European Commission are deliberating implementing the Worldwide harmonised Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) and cycle (WLTC) to further increase the accuracy of emissions measurements.

The adoption of the proposed new testing procedure is regarded as the biggest challenge for light-duty vehicles and car manufacturers in meeting CO2 emissions targets of 95g/km by 2021, a standard which could be phased in from 2020.

Tao advised that “besides the additional costs on the vehicle itself, it will be extremely difficult to achieve the new emissions goals under the new testing cycles when the targets were set under the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC), which has widely reported limitations when it comes to emissions measuring. Given the European Commission is seeking to introduce the WLTP in the shortest possible timeframe, a correlation between the NEDC and WLTP testing procedure is essential.”