Nissan accelerates Europe’s race for cleaner cars

Lobbying group tracks progress made by car manufacturers to reduce fuel consumption and emissions of new cars

Nissan has made the most rapid progress in cleaning up emissions from its cars in Europe with a 12.1% reduction in official CO2 figures last year, according to a report from lobbying group Transport & Environment.

The report, which tracks the annual progress made by vehicle manufacturers to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of new cars, found Nissan has been the best performer in driving fuel efficiency since EU CO2 limits were proposed in 2008, cutting CO2 by an average of 5.5% annually.

The Japanese manufacturer’s cut from 131g of CO2 per kilometre to 115g CO2/km in 2014 – by far the largest gain made by any major manufacturer in recent years – is mainly the result of improved efficiency in combustion engines and not the increase in sales of its electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf. Last year’s upgrade of the Qashqai, its biggest seller, brought a range of new engines which were on average 20g CO2/km more efficient – highlighting the untapped potential of fuel efficiency technology to meet more ambitious CO2 targets.

Five carmakers – Peugeot Citroën, Volvo, Toyota, Nissan and Daimler – are ahead of schedule to achieve the 95g/km target by 2021, based on past progress. Renault, Ford and Volkswagen are also broadly on schedule to meet their 2021 target.

Four carmakers – Fiat, GM, Honda and Hyundai – need to significantly accelerate progress to achieve the 2021 target, while the last three have yet to meet their 2015 targets.

Overall, the Asian and US companies are making less progress towards their goals than most European-headquartered companies.

Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at T&E, said: “Regulations to improve car fuel economy are working with carmakers that claim three-quarters of sales in Europe on track to meet their 2021 target. The Commission must now propose a new target for 2025 to maintain momentum.”

T&E said that while the official figures for CO2 emissions from new cars show a steady reduction, only half this progress – less than 2% improvement per year – is achieved on the road. The gap between official test results and the cars’ performances outside the laboratory, on the road, is considerable and growing, the organisation said.

The European Commission plans to introduce a new test cycle – the World Light Duty Test Procedure (WLTP) – in 2017 but carmakers want to delay its introduction until after 2021 and continue using the current test.

Archer added: “Lawmakers should protect motorists from auto manufacturers gaming official tests. We need the new test to be introduced without further delay and end the current abuse of an obsolete system. Ultimately, the new test will provide a more level-playing field for good performers to be rewarded for their good work.”

Cars are responsible for 12% of Europe’s total CO2 emissions and are the single largest source of emissions in the transport sector.

Nissan accelerates Europe’s race for cleaner cars

Read more related articles

Professional Engineering magazine

Current Issue: Issue 1, 2025

Professional Engineering app

Professional Engineering newsletter

Related articles