The European Commission has published its proposal on the Euro 7 emission regulations, probably the one that regulates the latest thermal engines sold in Europe, before his disappearance in 2035.
After practically a year of delay, in which the possibility of requesting limits so strict that the European association of automobile manufacturers (Acea) came to affirm that they were “technically impossible” was considered, the next regulation tightens its limits less than expected and would introduce novelties to comply with in comparison with the current Euro 6d.
Euro 7 would enter into force, at the earliest, in 2025. In its current format – which is unlikely to last, since thas to go through Parliament and Council–, aims that, by 2035, passenger cars have reduced current emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 35%, going from 0.08 grams per kilometer for diesel engines to 0.05 grams.
For industrial and commercial vehicles and buses, the reduction will be 56%, going from 0.46 grams to 0.30 grams of NOx per kilometer. According to Brussels calculations, transport is responsible for 39% of this type of pollution in the European Union.
As far as suspended particles are concerned, the most harmful to the human respiratory tract and for local pollution, these should be 13% lower for passenger cars and 39% for heavy vehicles.
In addition, the Commission has introduced measures that were not covered by previous versions of the Euro regulation. Some examples are limiting the particles emitted for brakes and tires; regulate new types of pollutants, such as ammonia, or carry out driving tests with broader conditions, whether in temperature or altitude.
Vehicle life
Surveillance will be tightened as well. Each vehicle will have to meet its emissions limits for at least 10 years and 200,000 kilometers –what the Commission proposes as the useful life of a vehicle, double what Euro 6 proposed–, and the control will be done digitally through the on-board computer.
The Community Executive expects that 20% of the light vehicles and 50% of the heavy vehicles that circulate on European roads still emit polluting substances through the tailpipe until 2050, the year in which Europe is set to move to the complete decarbonisation of its economy.
Therefore, they affirm that Euro 7 has not been as hard as it could have been, given that it has been written taking into account the ban on the sale of thermal cars in 2035. For the first time, they establish limits for electric cars, whether they are through brake particles and wheels or durability requirements for batteries.
According to the Commission “this reduction in polluting agents must be achieved with existing technologies» and they estimate that, although the price of vehicles will rise, it will only increase between 90 and 150 euros for passenger cars and about 2,600 for heavy vehicles.
The executive vice-president of the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, stated that “the new Euro 7 regulation, together with upcoming CO2 limitations for trucks and buses, it will generate the necessary framework to achieve the decarbonisation of road transport.”