Real world test for ‘dirty diesels’

From September 2017 all diesel vehicles sold in the EU will undergo tests on roads rather than labourites in a bid to measure more accurately their tailpipe emissions.

The radical move to change how diesel’s emissions are measured follows powerful lobbying from environmental groups who say, in the real world, tailpipe emissions for diesels are higher than the figures claimed by car manufacturers, with one report claiming the difference is as much as 33%.

In cities like, London and Paris, the backlash against ‘dirty diesels’ is already in full swing following links with diesels’ higher levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates with asthma, cancer, lung diseases and respiratory illnesses.

So bad is the smog in France’s capital, the city has planned to ban diesels by 2020.

A vocal critic of the new real world tests is car industry body, ACEA , that claims any changes to emission tests would require major changes in testing and developing new vehicles - claiming this was impossible since the regulation is incomplete.

“The industry is being asked to design today for requirements that will only be known next year”, said an ACEA spokesman.

ACEA has demanded the EU regulators submit complete proposals by June or July at the latest that specifies the exact limits for pollution.

In what’s been described as “game over for diesels”, by one commentator, the new emissions test could force car-makers to abandon diesel powered engines because of the  costs involved with meeting the stricter emission targets imposed by the real-world tests.

The EU’s latest Euro 6 emission standards for NOx is 80 milligrams per kilometre, down from the Euro 5’s set limit of 180mg/km.