Engineering news
From today, car manufacturers face more sophisticated and demanding laboratory emissions tests for all new models retailing in the UK. For the first time, companies will also have to test vehicles on the road as part of the EU regulations to improve air quality and tackle climate change.
New laboratory tests will be longer and faster, with a greater range of vehicle and engine speeds, engine load, gear changes and temperatures. The real-world testing will use new portable equipment to check tailpipe emissions of pollutants including toxic nitrogen oxides and particulates.
Legislators hope the stringent new procedures will give more accurate data than previous tests, which did not change for 20 years and often gave very different results to real-world driving. The automotive sector was also rocked by the Volkswagen testing scandal, where secret “defeat devices” rigged tests.
The new tests will include every-day and extreme driving conditions. Engineers will also simulate different driving styles to create a more complete picture of cars’ emissions.
Driving styles are “by far the biggest influence” on fuel use and emissions, claimed Sam Akehurst, lecturer at the Centre for Low Emission Vehicle Research in Bath. “Someone who is environmentally friendly and drives gently is going to get much better fuel economy than someone who drives aggressively,” he said to Professional Engineering.
The thorough new testing will help make cars cleaner and increase consumer confidence in the industry, he said. However, he pointed out that most emissions do not come from the latest models.
“The vast majority of problems in our inner cities at the moment caused with vehicle emissions are not with the latest regulation vehicles… actually there is a relatively small number of those vehicles in the fleet,” he said. “This legislation will definitely make the vehicles cleaner but it becomes a much more political scenario, as to whether people buy the vehicles in large enough quantities to start making a significant difference.”
The “challenging new regime” will provide evidence substantiating industry efforts to improve air quality, claimed Mike Hawes, chief executive Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’. “Combined, these new and demanding tests will soon give consumers emissions performance information that is far closer to what they experience behind the wheel – and inspire greater confidence that the new cars they buy are not only the cleanest, but the most fuel efficient ever produced,” he said.