Will Euro 6 reduce the NOx emissions of new diesel cars? – Insights from on-road tests with Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS)

The nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution in urban areas of Europe can be partially attributed to the increasing market penetration of diesel cars that show higher distance-specific nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions than gasoline cars. The on-road NOx emissions of diesel cars, furthermore, appear to exceed substantially applicable emissions standards. This observation raises concerns that the introduction of more stringent Euro 6 emissions standards in 2014 may not adequately reduce the distance-specific on-road NOx emissions of new diesel cars. We address the existing concerns by analyzing the gaseous emissions of one novel Euro 6 diesel car and six Euro 4–5 diesel cars with Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS). We find that the average on-road NOx emissions of the Euro 6 car (0.21 ± 0.09 g per kilometer [g km−1]) are considerably lower than those of the Euro 4 cars (0.76 ± 0.12 g km−1) and the Euro 5 cars (0.71 ± 0.30 g km−1). The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system of the Euro 6 diesel car is suitable to limit NOx emissions during real-world on-road driving. Still, all tested cars, including the Euro 6 diesel car, exceed their NOx emissions standards on the road by 260 ± 130%. This finding suggests that the current type-approval procedure does not adequately capture the on-road NOx emissions of diesel cars. By introducing a complementary emissions test procedure that covers a wide range of normal operating conditions, the European legislative authorities can address this problem and ensure that Euro 6 will indeed deliver an adequate reduction in the NOx emissions of new diesel cars.

► First on-road emissions test of a Euro 6 diesel car with PEMS. ► Nitrogen oxides emissions exceed type-approval levels. ► Complementary test procedure could limit the on-road emissions of diesel cars.