III? IV? V? Deciphering the European anti-pollution rules
Imagine you want to buy a new car and impress your neighbor with its ecological performance or you really want to make your car purchase as good as possible. Then you check the brochure and it says that it is Euro IV compliant. Most of us will realise it's a nice thing. Hey, IV is better than III but V is even better, isn't it? But wait, are Euro V vehicles already available? It's hard sometimes to understand what it really means. Yahoo Autos Italia has a very cool article about the signification of the different Euro polluting rules which, at least, might look confusing (Note: on the other hand EPA rules make categories look more user-friendly, at least for me).
Therefore, let's summarize what the different Euro levels mean for passenger cars:
Euro 0
If the car was sold before the end of 1992, it doesn't have any sort of catalysator and is probably fitted to a carburetor. Of course, carmakers would want us to throw them away and buy newer cars but also governments. You can save hundreds of euros if you trade in one of those cars, which are or are about to be banned from some city centers.
Euro I
These vehicles must have catalysators and fuel injection. Less polluting and, although still able to run around. The limits in polluting elements were: 2.72 CO g/km (not CO2), 0.97 (or 1.13) Hydrocarbons+NOx g/km and 0.14 g of PM (particulate matter) per km - both for diesel and gasoline engines (save for particulate matters). Your car is Euro I if you find these codes in the papers:91/441/CEE, 91/542/CEE-A and 93/59/CEE
Follow us after the jump for the complete list
[Source: Yahoo Autos Italia & Wikipedia]
Euro II
Things got tougher for cars in 1997. There were even two different levels of application of these standards. First we have to separate diesels from gasoline counterparts.
Gasoline cars had to emit less than 2.2 CO g/km, and less than 0.5 grams of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides combined per km. Diesels had two tiers, depending on the category: 1.0 CO g/km, 0.97 (1.13) HC + NOx g/km and 0.14 (0.18) g of particulate matter per km.
Your car is Euro II compliant if the documentation holds any of these codes:91/542/CE-B, 94/12/CEE, 96/1/CEE, 96/44/CEE, 96/69/CE or 98/77/CE.
Euro III
Cars immatriculated after Jan 1st 2001. It's the most common tier in current running cars in Europe. For the first time, hydrocarbons were separated from nitrogen oxydes for gas cars as follows:
Gasoline cars: 2.30 CO g/Km, 0.15 NOx g/km and 0.20 non-burned hydrocarbon grams per km
As per diesels: 0.64 CO g/Km of CO2, 0.56 NOx and hydrocarbon g/km and 0.05 g/km of particulates.
A car is Euro III compliant if it was produced according the following rules: 1998/69/CE, 98/77/CE-A, 1999/96/CE, 1999/102/CE-A, 2001/1/CE-A, 2001/27/CE, 2001/100/CE-A, 2002/80/CE-A and 2003/76/CE-A
Euro IV
Current standards in force since Jan. 2006.
Gasoline cars: 1.0 CO g/Km, 0.08 NOx g/km and 0.10 HC g/km.
Diesels: 0.50 CO g/Km, 0.30 NOx and NC g/km, 0.025 of particulates. It makes cars be fitted with particulate filters, although it's yet to be mandatory.
Check your car papers. It's Euro IV compliant if it was built according to 98/69/CE-B, 98/77/CE-B, 1999/96/CE-B, 1999/102/CE-B, 2001/1/CE-B, 2001/27/CE-B, 2001/100/CE-B, 2002/80/CE-B, 2003/76/CE-B
The Euro V is not yet approved but will be mandatory since January 2009 (so you know now that your neighbor might be teasing you). The proposal is:
Gasoline cars: 1.0 CO g/Km, 0.06 NOx g/km and 0.10 HC g/km and 0.005 grams of particulates.
Diesels: 0.50 CO g/Km, 0.23 NOx and NC g/km, 0.018 of particulates.
As you can see, nothing is said about the CO2 levels, although they must be informed in advertising because taxes depend on them. The final restrictions have yet to be determined as averages for a marque range but there's movement and much discussing right now.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
steven 12:33PM (8/15/2007)
Does anyone have some type of reference to compare and contrast the Euro Levels to the US EPA Bins/Tiers?
I heard Bobby Lutz saying something like the US Bin5 Tier2 requirements (or is it Tier 2, Bin 5?) for diesels are 6 times stricter that the corresponding Euro 5 Level?!?!? http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2007/07/checking_back_w.html
That is either good news for US air quality or just certain politicians trying to keep diesels from coming back.
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Phil L. 12:37PM (8/15/2007)
I'm surprised that European cars up through 1992 (Euro 0) could have carburetors. It was pretty difficult to find a new car in the US with a carburetor in 1992, and catalytic converters have been common since the mid 70s...
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Mattias 1:01PM (8/15/2007)
#2: It was pretty difficult to find carburettors here in Germany after 1989 too. But cars many cars built between 1983 and 1991 with carburettors could be easily retrofitted with a Lambda sond and catalytic converters. From 1986 to 1989 catalytic converters without a Lamdba sond have been quite common at least in Germany.
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virgil 1:02PM (8/15/2007)
Catalysts really didn't take off in Europe until the late 80s - early 90s, and weren't compulsory in many places until around 92/93. Same for leaded gasoline - a lot of older model cars need an additive to the gas to make up for the fact you can only buy unleaded now.
While europe has really taken the lead on CO2 taxation, they lag far behind on basic pollution controls, when compared to the USA.
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Manu Sharma 2:00PM (8/15/2007)
Xavier, why do I see serious differences between the figures you provide here and those in this Wikipedia entry?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_emission_standards
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Manu Sharma 2:02PM (8/15/2007)
Sorry, mea culpa. I was looking at diesel figures, not petrol.
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rgseidl 2:32PM (8/15/2007)
@ Phil L. -
we take it for granted today that a great many technical standards are set by the EU for all member states, but that wasn't always the case. Sweden and Switzerland, both EFTA but not EEC countries at the time, introduced three-way catalysts in the 1980s, followed by fellow EFTA nation Austria. It was only when Germany decided it wanted to clean up its air that the discussion was elevated to the European level, where France and Italy were dragging their feet.
Not only did the first generation of three-way catalyst have to be imported from the US, but refineries had to start making and selling lead-free gasoline by switching to MTBE. This reduced octane numbers and therefore increased fuel consumption and oil imports. The more problematic issue, though, was getting all Western European countries to synchronize the fuel switch.
Confusion about when that might actually happen prompted a significant number of motorists to buy diesels instead. Even though they were still pretty awful performers at the time, it did at least guarantee they would be able to drive across borders. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Phil L. 3:27PM (8/15/2007)
rgseidl -
Thanks for the additonal info. Yes, it's easy to forget that traditionally-independent European neighbors haven't always cooperated well. Of course, state-level politics in the US have created different emissions standards in the US, in spite of a fairly strong federal system.
I hadn't heard this additional factor affecting diesel popularity in Europe before. An interesting observation.
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ThwartedEfforts 7:43AM (8/16/2007)
While europe has really taken the lead on CO2 taxation, they lag far behind on basic pollution controls, when compared to the USA.
CO2 taxation here is criticised for being counter-productive. The way it is banded means there's little incentive to downsize, and the fact that penalties are ratcheted in every budget means buyers have a tendency hang on to older, dirtier cars because they can't afford to change. And there are only agreements and draft legislation in place to control CO2 output.
As for 'pollution control', America and Americans remain the world's biggest defilers of clean air by a huge margin; if there are strict rules in the US now, it is only because you were forced to implement them. The best-selling vehicle there for nearly 25 years straight has been a Ford truck configured with a 4.2L V8, 4.6L V8 or 5.4L V8, the largest of which is lucky to see 15mpg. Alternatives like the Tahoe average barely more than 10mpg. Guardians of the planet you are not.
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Nicolas Alexacos 9:42AM (1/18/2008)
Here's a tricky one: does anyone know which Euro directives do 1987 US-spec vehicles follow? (ie 1987 Mercedes 560 SL & SEC with triode catalysts)
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