Diesel: new data proves that modern diesel cars emit low pollutant emissions on the road

Brussels, 5 November 2018 – New data released today by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) provides evidence that latest-generation diesel cars emit low pollutant emissions on the road. This data was measured in real-driving conditions by the drivers of the various national type approval authorities.
Some 270 new types of diesel cars type-approved against the latest Euro 6d-TEMP standard were introduced on the European market over the past year. The new data shows that all of these diesel cars performed well below the NOx threshold of the real driving emissions (RDE) test, which applies to all new car types since September 2017. What is more, already today most of these vehicles show results that are below the stricter NOx threshold that will be mandatory from January 2020.
RDE measures key pollutants, such as NOx and particles, emitted by cars while driven on public roads over a wide range of conditions. RDE therefore ensures that pollutant emission levels measured during the laboratory test (WLTP) are confirmed on the road, and that the legal thresholds are not exceeded during day-to-day driving.
Each of these 270 RDE-compliant diesel vehicle types represents a whole ‘family’ of similar cars of differing variants, so a multitude of low-emitting diesel cars are now available on the market. The German automobile club, ADAC, estimates that there are more than 1,200 different RDE-compliant cars available today1. Moreover, their availability is increasing rapidly.
Erik Jonnaert, ACEA Secretary General, said: “These new findings prove that modern diesel cars, supported by fleet renewal policies and combined with alternative powertrains, will play a strong role in helping cities move towards compliance with air quality targets. In parallel, diesel vehicles will continue to remain important for reducing CO2 emissions in the short and medium term, even though all manufacturers are expanding their offer of electrically-chargeable cars.”
Jonnaert: “Auto makers have made major investments to quickly deliver these massive reductions in NOx emissions. It is important that we stop demonising diesel technology as a whole. Instead, we need to differentiate between the old diesel fleet and the latest generation of vehicles.”
These findings are supported by third parties. ADAC recently performed independent on-road testing of RDE-compliant diesel vehicles and found that modern diesels emit 85% less NOx on average than Euro 5 cars, concluding that the latest diesels are “very clean”2. Their additional testing demonstrated that the best-performing RDE-compliant Euro 6 diesels emit as much as 95-99% less NOx than Euro 5 vehicles.
Notes for editors
- 1 ADAC overview of RDE-compliant cars available on the market (counting 1,206 different vehicles on 30 October 2018): https://www.adac.de/infotestrat/umwelt-und-innovation/abgas/modelle_mit_euro_6d_temp/
- 2 ADAC Ecotest, Moderne Diesel sind sehr sauber, https://presse.adac.de/meldungen/adac-ev/technik/euro6-d-temp-diesel-sind-sehr-sauber.html
- RDE results for individual vehicles can be found at: https://www.acea.be/publications/article/access-to-euro-6-rde-monitoring-data
- The type-approval results for the 270 RDE-compliant diesel vehicle types are available here:
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 14 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group.
- Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/.
Contact:
- Cara McLaughlin, Communications Director, cm@acea.auto, +32 485 88 66 47.
- Ben Kennard, Content Editor and Press Manager, bk@acea.auto, +32 487 39 21 82
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About the EU automobile industry
- 13.0 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 11.5% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €374.6 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total