EU

  • Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]

    Well, that's awkward. At its annual media briefing on Wednesday, Volkswagen Group executives said the costs of meeting new emission tests in the EU, lowering carbon emissions globally, and launching multiple new electric models would eat into the company's profits. With the company's diesels in disfavor even in Europe and unlikely to reappear in North America, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said the costs of cutting carbon emissions "pose the greatest challenge for us as a company" through 2020. DON'T MISS: VW Group has nailed down $25 billion of batteries for electric cars, it said today The...

  • Volkswagen ID Neo concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    VW Group has nailed down $25 billion of batteries for electric cars, it said today

    For a company that has only two battery-electric models in production, both several years old, VW Group spends a great deal of time talking about electric cars. The company has plans to launch 30 new electric vehicles by 2025, and has released four Volkswagen ID concepts, the first of which will...

  • 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, Bear Mountain, May 2014
    Fiat Chrysler to end diesel engines in cars by 2022 (but not trucks): report

    Fiat Chrysler will abandon the use of diesel engines in all its passenger vehicles by 2022, according to a report Sunday. Demand for diesel versions of passenger cars in Europe is waning and car makers face extraordinarily high costs to get diesel engines to comply with emission limits in...

  • Hydrogen station in Nerima Ward, Japan
    Germany's hydrogen stations exceed US; California beats Japan on density

    As of today, there are 39 hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S., all but four of them in the state of California. They serve roughly 39 million Californians, whereas 284 million Americans outside the state have no access to hydrogen fuel-cell cars nor stations at which to refill them. Germany, on...

  • Opel Ampera-e
    Opel to swap Ampera-e (aka Bolt EV) for all-electric Corsa model in 2020

    It's been six months since General Motors completed the sale of its Opel division in Europe to PSA Group, the French parent of the Citroën, DS, and Peugeot brands. With the sale came licenses to run out the model life of GM-designed vehicles sold as Opels (and Vauxhalls in the U.K.) while PSA...

  • Volkswagen TDI diesel cars stored at Pontiac Silverdome (Photo by Jalopnik)
    VW extends dirty-diesel bonus in Germany; 8 percent traded for new electric car

    A scrappage scheme in Germany launched by Volkswagen to take the dirtiest diesels off the road has been extended beyond its planned end date of this month. Two years after the diesel emissions scandal that cost it over $25 billion, Volkswagen is extending an incentive program aimed at owners of...

  • Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS) on a Peugeot 308

    With the exception of California's longstanding ability to set its own tougher emission standards, any car legal to sell in one state of the U.S. is legal to sell in all of them. And aside from a handful of differences—daytime running lights, speedometers marked in km/h—Canadian-market vehicles are largely the same as well. Within the European Union, differences in vehicle approvals were harmonized two decades ago, but each country still oversees the testing and approval of vehicles sold within its borders. DON'T MISS: EU to slash vehicle carbon emissions one third more from 2021...

  • Eiffel Tower in Paris, France (photo by Rijin, via Wikimedia Commons)
    EU to slash vehicle carbon emissions one third more from 2021 through 2030

    Europe already has tough standards for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions in current and future vehicles. Now they're going to get significantly tougher between 2021 and 2030. At its weekly cabinet meeting, held Wednesday, the European Union formally adopted far more stringent requirements for...

  • Mercedes BlueEfficiency four-cylinder diesel
    Those fuel-efficient diesels? Actually worse on lifetime CO2, study says

    Diesel-powered cars have enjoyed a comfortable market share in Europe for decades, but their decline in popularity continues following numerous diesel-emission cheating scandals and regulatory crackdowns. As if diesel cars hadn't already had enough negative press, a new study says "fuel-efficient"...

  • W116 Mercedes-Benz S Class (1972 to 1980)
    European bans on vehicles with engines should exempt collector cars: study

    Numerous European countries have rolled out target years in which they plan to ban the sale of new cars powered by internal-combustion engines. At the same time, many European cities have introduced car-free zones in highly congested or polluted areas—which has led to worries that...

  • European Union battery alliance announcement
    EU announces launch of battery alliance to boost cells for electric cars

    As it stands today, Asia dominates the production of electric-car battery cells globally, with Japanese and Korean companies representing the bulk of the industry outside of booming Chinese makers. Europe, however, lacks a single major player in the fabrication and assembly of lithium-ion battery...

  • Volkswagen ID Neo concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    Volkswagen ID electric car to launch in 2020 along with new VW Golf

    Volkswagen has a critical year coming in 2020, when the German brand will launch two incredibly important vehicles nearly back-to-back. The next-generation Volkswagen Golf will arrive that year, and then, one month later, the brand will launch its first mass-market electric car, the ID hatchback...

  • 2017 Renault Zoe

    The data has been crunched and the latest round of sales figures has arrived for a look at European electric and plug-in hybrid sales through the month of July. With another month on the books, Europe still continues to choose one specific electric car and one plug-in hybrid over all the other choices. The two cars topping each list have remained at the top of the sales charts for months. DON'T MISS: European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan-June 2017 Not much of a surprise, the Renault Zoe remains the best-selling electric car across the continent of Europe. According to the latest...

  • Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC diesel (European version)
    Europe's tougher new emissions, fuel-economy tests should be closer to real-world results

    Fuel-economy ratings for cars sold in Europe have long been wildly unrealistic, sometimes more than 30 percent more optimistic than real-world consumption figures. Today, that will change. As of September 1, two new and more stringent testing regimes are to be used for certifying new vehicles going...

  • 2017 Renault Zoe
    European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan-June 2017

    The numbers are in, which means it's once again time take a look at European electric and plug-in hybrid sales. Delivery and registration data is compiled from January through June of 2017, and once more, it remains clear Europe has a favorite electric car. The Renault Zoe walks away with an even...

  • 2017 Tesla Model 3 "first production" car, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017
    Do German makers face 'iPhone moment,' after dodging diesel bullet?

    The Volkswagen diesel scandal has largely fallen out of the public eye in the U.S., as VW and Audi buy back and modify roughly half a million noncompliant vehicles sold from 2009 through 2016. In Germany, meanwhile, the major sellers of diesel vehicles—not only VW Group but also Mercedes...

  • 2014 Audi A6 2.0 TDI Ultra
    European commissioner warns against cities' diesel bans, fears market collapse

    The warning came even before last week's plans for updates to 9 million European diesel cars by German luxury makers Audi and Mercedes-Benz were announced. In a letter sent to the transport ministers of European Union countries, EU industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska warned that proposed bans...

  • MINI E electric car used in vehicle-to-grid test. Photo by University of Delaware/Evan Krape
    Electric Mini to be made in U.K., despite BMW's Brexit worries (updated)

    Mini, despite being owned by BMW since 1994, has long been a decidedly British brand. But both employees and fans worried that its British roots might be overlooked as a decision on where Mini's electric car is to be built closed in. Most Mini production takes place at the brand's Oxford plant in...

  • Chrome exhaust pipe

    Drivers in the U.S. have longer commutes than those in Europe and Asia, on average. In the U.K., short commutes in vehicles with combustion engines—whether gasoline or diesel—pose particularly tough emission problems. That's because the exhaust aftertreatment systems have to warm up fully before they cut emissions to the levels required under EU regulations. DON'T MISS: EU cracks down as diesel scandal exposes lax tests country by country The problem has been highlighted by the British consultancy Emission Analytics, which routinely analyzes the data from its various EQUA Index...

  • Volkswagen Plant, Wolfsburg, Germany (photo by Richard Bartz)
    Lasting legacy of VW diesel scandal: EU gets serious about testing

    The Volkswagen diesel scandal left lasting imprints on the entire automotive industry, and may have changed the way regulators look at vehicles using the fuel forever. That's true not just in the United States, but elsewhere as well. The European Union is now increasing its efforts to make sure a...

  • Freightliner Inspiration Truck self-driving truck concept
    Real-world diesel emission study shows latest standards must be applied to heavy trucks

    When a major lobbying group issues a statement replying to an academic study the same day that study first hits the media, you know it's major. On Monday, the Diesel Technology Forum responded to an article in Nature with a statement that supported "improved real-world testing" of diesel emissions...

  • Longer-range Renault Zoe electric car, introduced at 2016 Paris Motor Show
    European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan-Mar 2017

    The first quarter of 2017 is now behind us, which means we get to take a peek at the European plug-in electric vehicle sale numbers. The year-to-date numbers show a significant growth in sales for most electric models, according to the recent European Alternative Fuels Observatory report. The...

  • Volkswagen TDI diesel vehicles owned by Phil Grate and family, Seattle, Washington
    Newest, cleanest diesels in Europe can still be very dirty: analysis

    It has become increasingly more evident that carmakers must take aggressive steps to ensure that diesel cars and light trucks meet current environmental regulations. Tests done by Emissions Analytics found that the majority of new diesel-powered cars sold in Europe do not meet the Euro 6 emission...

  • Mark Webber driving a 2016 Porsche 919 Hybrid in London
    London's $27 entry charge for pre-2016 diesel cars to start April 2019

    For more than 13 years, London has collected a stiff charge from motor vehicles entering the congested core of the city during weekday business hours. Known as the congestion charge, the fee of £11.50 a day, or $14.50 (£10 with automatic payment, or $12.50) is levied from 6 am to 7 pm...

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