Environmental organisations call for improved fuel consumption tests for new cars

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)’s revelation that newly registered passenger cars consume significantly more fuel than advertised highlights the need for better testing, environmental organisation NABU says in a press release. “The car industry’s lie about fuel consumption is becoming ever-more evident,” NABU director Leif Miller says, describing the values determined through testing as little more than “fantasy.” NABU calls for more thorough testing of both particulate matter and CO₂ emissions. The European Commission and Germany’s next government must ensure the transport sector reduces emissions in line with climate protection plans, making binding 2030 emissions limits and an e-car quota essential, Miller says.
In a separate press release, German transport and environmental association Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VDC) says the EU must enforce “binding CO₂ emissions tests and fuel-use tests on the road” to fulfil climate protection plans. “Carmakers have been cheating their customers over fuel consumption for years,” VCD’s Michael Müller-Görnert says. The discrepancy between real and advertised fuel consumption costs the average car owner over 400 euros per year, he adds.

Read the NABU press release in German here and the VCD press release in German here.

See the CLEW article Expert commission gives Energiewende status - "Greatest need for action" in transport sector for more information.