Only 10% of new diesel cars meet the Euro 6 standards for air pollution emissions, with car manufacturers across the board producing diesel vehicles that exceed the EU emission limits, according to NGO Transport & Environment.
A report by the European organization published on Monday states that every major car manufacturer is selling diesel cars that do not meet EU air pollution standards–Euro 6 standards–that should have been met when they came into force on September 1, Air Quality News reported.
The report titled “Don’t Breathe Here” claims that nine out of 10 diesel cars failed to comply with the limit, with EU diesel cars on average producing emissions around five times higher than the allowed limit.
According to T&E, the worst car for diesel emissions was an Audi, which emitted 22 times the allowed EU limit.
When tested on the road, it was found that just three out of 23 tested vehicles met the new Euro 6 standard, which T&E claims is due to Europe’s “obsolete” laboratory testing system that is not based on real world driving and allows carmakers to use “cheaper, less effective exhaust treatment systems”.
In contrast, the report argues that diesel cars sold by the same manufacturers in the USA “where limits are tighter and tests more rigorous” have better exhaust treatment systems and produce lower emissions.
According to T&E, the cost to car manufacturers of building a modern diesel exhaust after-treatment system into vehicles is around €300 per car.
There are plans to introduce a new on-road test that will measure the real-world emissions of diesel cars, but it will not apply to all new EU cars until 2018 at the earliest. Carmakers have argued that on-road testing should be delayed until 2020.
“We cannot choose where we breathe so we must stop cars polluting our city air,” concludes the T&E report. “The technology to clean up vehicle exhausts is available and costs a few hundred euros. It is a small price compared to the nearly €1 trillion spent annually in healthcare and lost output and productivity.”
