Tighter car fuel efficiency standards welcomed

Greg Archer, programme manager for clean vehicles at T&E said:
“Fuel economy standards are good for jobs and European economy, good
for drivers and good for the planet. This is a sound proposal, but the
benefits could have been even greater had the Commission shown more
ambition.”

The Commission says the average new car sold in 2020 should emit no
more than 95 grammes of CO₂ per kilometre. CO₂ emissions and fuel
efficiency are directly linked. Based on today’s fuel prices, the
average driver would save around €500 a year on fuel bills compared to
current vehicles, if the 95g target set by the Commission for 2020
becomes law. The costs of technology would pay back in around a year,
delivering lower costs of ownership.

T&E says the proposal should have gone further: an 80g target for 2020
is feasible and affordable and would save drivers around € 650 per
year. And even more substantial savings could have been possible if a
2025 target of 60g CO₂ had been set.

The organisation also warns that a number of loopholes in the proposed
legislation will be bad news for drivers and the environment. One of
such loopholes is the proposal to include so-called ‘super-credits’,
that give manufacturers fuel efficiency credits for more electric cars
than they have actually sold.

The Commission has also decided to stick to an outdated method to
distribute efforts across carmakers, by favouring those car
manufacturers that make heavier cars. This undermines lightweighting
efforts, key to achieve improvements in fuel efficiency.

Greg Archer added, “The Commission should have given additional
rewards for making cars lighter, rather than heavier – this was a
missed opportunity.”