EU agreement pushes full implementation of 95 g/km CO2 target for cars back 1 year to 2021, expands use of supercredits
27 November 2013
The European Parliament (EP) and member state negotiators reached an informal agreement on new rules to achieve the 2020 CO2 emission target of 95 g/km for new cars. Under the new agreement, which must be approved by both the European Parliament and Council to enter into force, 95% of new cars must meet the 95 g/km mandatory target by 2020, and 100% by 2021.
An earlier agreement (earlier post), set aside after EU ministers failed to endorse a previous informal deal on it with Parliament, had envisioned full implementation of the 95-gram target in 2020. Additionally, the new agreement significantly expands the use of supercredits—favorable weightings to cars that emit less than 50 g/km of CO2 within a manufacturer’s range.
Under the new agreement, supercredits would be allowed from 2020 to 2022, and capped at 7.5 g/km over that period. The earlier agreement had capped supercredits at 2.5 grams per year.
Our objective was to stand firm and not weaken our targets, in order not to hold back innovation in the car industry and EU efforts against climate change. We accepted a very limited phase-in of one year only, combined with super-credits. We regret that some member states in the Council have tried to delay confirmation of a deal between the institutions. This could have dragged the procedure out until the next Parliament, while the automotive sector needs long-term certainty for its investments.
Council’s attitude also sets a dangerous precedent among the institutions. We must ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Parliament has done its job, and we now expect the Council to do likewise.
—Environment Committee chair Matthias Groote (S&D, DE)
Although an agreement has been reached on the new rules in June, pressure from Germany in the “COREPER” committee had postponed a decision to endorse the deal. The new text will be examined by COREPER on Friday.
Currently, Europe has a 2015 CO2 limit of 130 g/km. Based on emission levels recorded in vehicle tests, car registration data analyzed by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the report “CO2 emissions performance of car manufacturers in 2012” earlier this year showed that in 2012 all major car manufacturers met their targets for their fleet. Nine of the larger manufacturers (Audi AG, BMW AG, Automobiles Citroën, Fiat group, Ford-Werke, Adam Opel, Automobiles Peugeot, Seat, Toyota Motor Europe, and Volvo Car) were already compliant with 2015 targets in 2012. (Earlier post.)
They should meet it easily enough with improved diesels.
Hybrids, EVs and PHEVs can all do it now, but are too expensive for most people, hence the need for improved diesels.
It shouldn't be a problem with 7-8 years to do it.
Most of them will probably blow past it due to competitive pressure.
Posted by: mahonj | 27 November 2013 at 09:37 AM
A Ford Focus Econetic, for example, gets 88 g/km. It is available today. It is not expensive. I could afford it.
Posted by: Peter_XX | 27 November 2013 at 10:26 AM
@Peter,
indeed, also the Golf blue motion and hybrids, etc.
The technology is known, the thing is to roll it out across the range so that the fleet average is below the limit, and for the car companies to stay in business.
There may be a bet here that oil will become a lot more expensive, and that Europe will be ready with hyper-eco cars when this happens, and benefit from this situation.
While this will be true in the long term, the short and mid terms are hard to see.
Electrics might have a battery breakthrough, natural gas might become popular and gain the infrastructure they need - H2?? who knows.
Posted by: mahonj | 28 November 2013 at 08:29 AM
The impossible to do or too costly to do is what the Big-3 kept saying for decades not to do anything.
Of course, most future vehicles can and will do better than 80/g/Km (average) but regulations may be required to force manufacturers to do it.
The arrival of extended range BEVs and FCEVs and cleaner power sources (in the post 2020 era) will do a lot to achieve much lower pollution levels.
Posted by: HarveyD | 28 November 2013 at 09:22 AM
@Peter
The Ford Focus Econetic doesn't get the real-world efficiency its offical numbers claim.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/ford/focus/first-drives/ford-focus-econetic-16-tdci-first-drive-review
Its just not quick enough, so people just adjust by flooring the accelerator.
The real world impact of this mandate will be less than what is expected from reading paper specifications.
Posted by: NewtonPulsifer | 29 November 2013 at 12:18 PM