Gap between real-world and type-approval emissions undermines incentives for cleaner cars

News Published 24 Sep 2019 Last modified 10 Dec 2019
2 min read
Photo: © Thomas Somme on Unsplash
Incentives to promote fuel-efficient cars have not always resulted in expected emission reductions, due to the growing gap between real-world and type approval emissions. However, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, incentives that boost the uptake of electric vehicles considerably reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions.

The EEA briefing ‘Fiscal instruments favouring electric over conventional cars are greener’ sums up evidence on the effect of financial schemes to promote the uptake cars with lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in seven European countries. The briefing is based on a recent study by the European Topic Centre on Air Pollution, Transport, Noise and Industrial Pollution.

The briefing shows that European countries that have actively promoted electric vehicles have significantly reduced the average CO2 emissions from new cars. This has also resulted in other clear benefits, such as reduced emissions of air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter.

However, the effects of tax incentives that promote conventional fuel-efficient cars are less clear, the briefing states. These incentives are based on type-approval emissions tested in the laboratory, which are lower than the real-world emissions on the road. As the gap between type-approval CO2 emissions and real-world emissions has increased, the real-world emissions of new cars have decreased significantly less than expected.

Testing vehicle emissions


EEA activities



Geographic coverage

Temporal coverage