Euractiv — 2023-07-13
Land transportation
Compliance with draft EU pollution standards for trucks and buses will increase manufacturing costs by up to €2.400 euros per vehicle – less than the €2.800 estimated by the European Commission and the €12.000 touted by industry.
These are the findings of a new study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a US-based NGO best known for exposing the ‘dieselgate’ emissions pollution scandal.
“ICCT estimated costs demonstrate that the technologies to make heavy-duty diesel engines cleaner are within reasonable financial reach,” Pierre-Louis Ragon, associate researcher with the ICCT, told EURACTIV.
“It is important to note that the European Commission’s Euro 7 proposal imposes less rigorous technological requirements compared to both the recommendations made by CLOVE in 2021 and current regulations in the United States,” he added, referring to the Consortium for ultra Low Vehicle Emissions (CLOVE), experts contracted by the European Commission to support preparations for the Euro 7 standards.
The study, based on data collected from industry experts, looked at how heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers can meet the stricter Euro 7 pollution standards, estimating the added expense of doing so.
The draft Euro 7 standards, tabled by the European Commission in November 2022, focus on pollutants harmful to human health rather than carbon emissions like particulate matter and carbon monoxide.
Euro 7 tightens the pollution limits for lorries and buses and includes previously unregulated pollutants, such as nitrous oxide.
Unlike its predecessor, which focused on lab testing, Euro 7 emissions limits must be monitored under real-world driving conditions, including in cities. This requires engines to maintain minimal pollutant output regardless of the type of operation.
On-board emissions monitoring systems (OBM) will need to be installed in vehicles and remain operational for 10 years.
The new standards are necessary to meet Europe’s air quality limits, according to the Commission, as combustion engine vehicles will remain on Europe’s roads for decades to come.
However, industry has reacted negatively to the proposal, arguing that the extra expense of meeting the standards will take away money that could be spent on speeding up the shift to electric vehicles.
Compliance
The ICCT study focused on engine aftertreatment systems, examining technology that could be fitted to better control the release of emissions.
Industry experts spoken to by ICCT identified four aftertreatment technologies needed to reach compliance with Euro 7. These include upgrades to the catalysts (also known as catalytic converters) used to reduce the toxicity of pollutants, and the installation of ultra-high filtration diesel particulate filters.
According to the study authors, the final cost estimates are based on both direct manufacturing costs, and indirect costs using data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
The authors, however, did not attempt to model the impacts of supply chain shortages, inflation, and geopolitical instability on the costs of emission control systems – all issues faced by the automotive sector in recent years.
“We find that the level of stringency proposed by the European Commission for the Euro 7 regulation would result in incremental costs for emission control systems ranging from €1.300 to €2.400 in 2027 compared to a typical Euro VI system,” the study concludes.
Opposing estimates
In designing the Euro 7 rules, the EU Commission said that it took into account “the affordability of mobility”, particularly given rising inflation.
“The expected cost increases in relation to the current situation represent only a small fraction of total vehicle purchase costs,” the Commission said in a statement, putting the figure at “around €2.700 for lorries and buses”.
“The estimated environmental benefits in terms of avoided health impacts from air pollution significantly outweigh these costs to manufacturers, consumers and authorities, by a ratio of more than 5 to 1,” the Commission added.
A May 2023 study backed by the auto manufacturing industry, however, found that the legislation would increase costs far beyond Commission estimates, rising to around €12.000 for heavy-duty vehicles.
Sigrid de Vries, director general of auto manufacturers’ trade association ACEA, said the Euro 7 proposal “would have an extremely low environmental impact at an extremely high cost”, and this is likely to be passed on to consumers in the form of high vehicle prices.
ACEA has called for the Euro 7 proposal to be revised or scrapped, with the money that would be spent on compliance invested into ramping up the production of electric vehicles.
Despite industry fears over cost, the lower compliance estimates calculated by the ICCT is expected to be welcome news for green proponents of the law.
“There is not a more efficient way of saving thousands of lives” than Euro 7, said Adrian Hiel, head of media at local authorities network Energy Cities.