Ecology, sometimes, is more expensive. There is a certain level of flexibility in the consumer’s pocket to be more ‘green’, and with Euro 7 we will have to put that flexibility to the test. A European survey puts a price on it.
Combustion engines in the European Union are sentenced to disappear in a few years, due to the ban on registering anything that emits CO2 through the exhaust pipe. That necessarily implies that there will be no cars with exhaust pipes, except for those with a hydrogen fuel cell, which basically release water.
But as a step prior to its commercial death, a great step must be taken, which is called euro 7. It will be the rule that applies to the 100 million combustion cars that will be registered between 2025 and 2035 in Europe. This regulation will be much tougher than the strictest version of Euro 6, the one that applies today and since 2014.
One of the greatest difficulties in complying with future regulations is the need for the legal limit of polluting gases to remain within the legality in a greater range of circumstances, not only within the WLTP homologation cycle -which is stricter than those that have been used for years-. This implies very effective anti-pollution systems, ergo more expensive.
Some manufacturers hide behind the fact that consumers are not willing to pay the difference that it would imply to have cleaner internal combustion cars that always meet the standard. The European Federation for Transport and the Environment (T&E) and ECODES try to argue otherwise with a European-wide survey.
With a sample of 2,112 adults who were interviewed between November 10 and 15 of last year, that figure is established in 500 euros. Specifically, they asked: “Car manufacturers can considerably reduce the pollution generated by vehicles for less than 500 euros (cheaper than painting the bodywork). Would you be willing to pay that additional cost for a new car?.
As we can see in the image above, the average number of responses was favorable with 65% yeses, 71% in the case of Spain and Italy, above the average. The survey asks at the time of purchase, it does not mention the maintenance that would be needed in the future. Because anti-pollution systems lose effectiveness over time…
Another interesting question is if it is necessary to tighten the nuts more to the manufacturers. They literally asked: “Road traffic is one of the main sources of air pollution. Do you think that car manufacturers should or should not be required by law to reduce the pollution generated by new gasoline or diesel cars, to the extent possible from a technical point of view?.
The results are more robust as it is made up of a much larger sample, 8,228 adults asked in the same period. 76% thought yes on a European scale, in the case of Spain 88% came out. In theory, Euro 7 regulations would be just that, a legal way to force manufacturers to cut emissions as far as possible (and some believe as far as impossible as well).
Furthermore, 85% of Spanish respondents demand that emission limits be met at any time: “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Cars should meet the minimum legal limits regardless of how, when and where they are used.”. 48% said “strongly agree”, and 29% “quite agree” at European level.
A more tricky issue is the long-term monitoring of the effectiveness of anti-pollution systems. As T&E clarifies, the European Commission only verifies this for 100,000 km or five years. In theory, the technical reviews of the member states should control this in the fleet. In Spain we call them ITV. Are the gas tests we pass not useful for that?
There is an experience in Japan of what happens when emission limits are rigorous even for used cars. Basically it is very difficult to see models over 10-15 years old rolling around big cities like Tokyo or Kyoto, and those that do are impeccable. The dreaded Japanese ITV, the shaken, they are hard and very expensive, but at least they include the compulsory insurance. Those that do not comply or go to scrapping or are exported to third countries.
All this referring to cars with thermal engines. For those who decide on an electric one, none of this is going to be a problem, its emissions are zero and they will always be, because there is no exhaust pipe. Of course, there is no need to pay 500 euros more, depending on the model it is rather a difference of 5,000 euros or 15,000 (even more), and most people are not so willing to pay that anymore for polluting less, although the cost of Total Life Cost (TCO) makes you save.