Personally, I am a long-time opponent of the European Union and most of the craziness it dictates to us on a daily basis. However, as a car enthusiast, the regulations and limits that concern the automotive world affect me the most. Just today I got upset about the planned reduction of fleet emissions .
While preparing an article about the considered front-wheel drive hatchback from Jaguar , I came to the topic of emission standards , which is directly related to it. Jaguar Land Rover mainly offers large off-road vehicles and luxury sedans, so fleet emissions are not among the lowest. In order for the concern to have at least some chance to fulfill them, it will probably have to offer a smaller and more economical model than we have ever found in the history of the Jaguar brand.
For example, the Aston Martin brand had to take a similar step and present the Cygnet model (photo in the gallery), which is actually a redesigned Toyota iQ . BMW , on the other hand, is planning a series of front-wheel drive models, either under its own brand or as MINI . Also new is the "i" series, which will focus on electric cars and hybrids, and the first representative is the newly introduced i3 model (photo in the gallery). Mercedes-Benz also offers small front-wheel drive models, or hybrid versions of the larger ones, and Audi is working on ultra and e-tron versions.
As an example, I chose only a few cars, especially premium ones. And what limits does it have to meet? From 2020, the European Union wants the combined CO 2 emissions of the entire fleet of a specific brand to be 95g/km . Only manufacturers with an annual production of less than 300,000 vehicles can apply for an exemption.
However, it does not stop at this value! In 2014, the European Union wants to set limits valid after 2020, and many of its politicians are pushing for a limit of 68-78 grams of CO 2 per kilometer . For comparison – according to experts, the production of electricity to fully charge an electric car is equivalent to emissions of 75 grams of CO 2 per kilometer !
Naturally, a number of car companies are rioting, among them, for example, Volkswagen or BMW . The head of BMW , Norbert Reithofer , told the German press that he sees the planned emissions regulations as purely political goals that have nothing to do with technological analysis and feasibility. He continued by declaring that tens of billions of euros have already been spent to meet the 95g/km limit, and that further reductions in combustion engine emissions below the limits of electric cars are simply unrealistic . Regardless of the fact that if such a drastic reduction in emissions could be achieved, the resulting cars would have to be so expensive that car manufacturers would lose the interest of customers .
…so there you have it. This is a topic that has been on my nerves for quite some time, and the recent article from Autocar was the final straw. What is your opinion on the matter? Let us know in the comments directly below the article, or on our Facebook page.
