Air conditioning could soon cost a lot more for Euro drivers
Air conditioning was once considered a luxury option but in the past decade it has become almost universally standard equipment. New European Union rules could put a stop to that for drivers over there. In an attempt to reduce atmospheric emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, the rules would require a standard of qualifications for engineers working on air conditioning systems which may raise the cost of developing systems.
Tax policies in countries like Great Britain may also play a role in reducing the prevalence of automotive A/C. New car taxes are now in part based on CO2 emissions. Cars that achieve less than 100g/km of CO2 output are exempt from the vehicle excise duty and that prompted Volkswagen to revise the Polo Bluemotion between the announcement earlier this year and the actual sales launch. It was originally announced with CO2 output of 104g/km but it's now available with emissions of only 99g/km. Part of that reduction came from eliminating standard A/C and other features. The original version is available and has a tax of £50 a year.
[Source: AutoExpress]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Don 5:36PM (7/31/2007)
Oh, Good God in Heaven...if the manufacturers are going to screw us with nonsense about "hydrocarbons" and higher costs, I just won't buy their wares. Hell, I'll put in my OWN A/C unit.
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ug 6:32PM (7/31/2007)
WTF??? I thought freon was long gone and that its replacement was safe for the environment???
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Greg A. 6:25AM (8/01/2007)
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluorocarbon
"However, HFCs and perflurocarbons do have activity in the entirely different realm of greenhouse gases, which do not destroy ozone, but do cause global warming. Two groups of haloalkanes, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs), are targets of the Kyoto Protocol."
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Dave 8:19AM (8/01/2007)
I don't think its the HFCs.
Air conditioning hurts fuel economy. Low fuel economy means the cars produce more CO2.
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Rob 9:26AM (8/01/2007)
AC does use energy, but not as much as people think any more. If you drive with windows open, drag, especially at high speeds, is a much greater energy loss.
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OhmExcited 10:18AM (8/01/2007)
Air conditioners these days are very efficient. Driving with the window open makes the car a parachute.
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Dave 10:22AM (8/01/2007)
In the city, A/C is quite a bit more energy hungry than opening a window.
And most Euro driving is urban.
I feel the drain on my 1.8L engine when I run my A/C - by European standards, where folks run 1.3L engines, A/C is a large energy expenditure.
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Greg A. 2:44PM (8/01/2007)
But Dave, in the first paragraph, it says, "In an attempt to reduce atmospheric emissions of hydrofluorocarbons..."
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