Carmakers failing citizens on filters
The health of millions of European citizens is being put at risk by carmakers’ failure to put cheap particle filters on new direct-injection petrol engines. The new engines are more fuel-efficient and emit much less carbon dioxide than traditional petrol engines, but T&E-commissioned testing shows they typically emit around 1,000 times more harmful particles, which cause cancer and pose other threats to human health.
Interested in this kind of news?
Receive them directly in your inbox. Delivered once a week.
They also emit 10 times more than new diesel engines. For years diesel engines were associated with much higher levels of particles than petrol. T&E clean cars programme manager Greg Archer said: ‘Direct-injection petrol engines would be a great innovation if they didn’t emit harmful particles, yet these particles can be eliminated without any loss of fuel-efficiency for around €50 per vehicle, the price of a hands-free kit. It’s time for carmakers to become more responsible and fit these filters as standard.’ Under EU law, such filters are obligatory for diesel engines but not for petrol engines.
Related Articles
View All
Joint letter in support of the Corporate Clean Vehicles Regulation
MEPs should hit the accelerator on fleet electrification, not the breaks
‘Carspreading’ to wipe out up to 14% of on-street parking in European cities – study
A new study analyses the relentless growth of newly sold cars across all key dimensions.
Ever-bigger? Car size at a crossroads
The impacts on safety, space and resource use if carspreading continues to go unchecked.