New van emissions decreased 4.7% last year

According to the latest statistics from the European Environment Agency (EEA), average CO2 emissions for new vans registered in the EU fell 4.7% last year, a step in the right direction for the new van market!

New van emissions

The preliminary data revealed by the European Environment Agency (EEA) found that the average new van registered in the EU last year emitted 156.9 g/km of carbon dioxide. A decrease of 7.7 g/km from the previous year and bringing emission figures below 175 g/km which was targeted for 2017. As it stands however, there will be an additional improvement of 6% required if the EU's stricter 147 g/km target is reached for 2020.

The 4.7% decrease represents the largest annual reduction since the 2011 regulation where Member States were required to record date for every new van registered in the market.

What's behind the decrease in new van emissions?

Firstly the reduction in emissions can be attributed somewhat to the increase in registrations of electric vans and plug-in hybrid vans, which increased a staggering 32% in the EU in 2017 in comparison with figures for 2016. However the electric van and plug-in hybrid van segment is still a very small part of the market with 0.8% of total EU van sales being attributed to this segment in 2017.

Diesel still dominant in new van fleets

Despite the increase of alternative fuel vans, diesel vans are still the dominant part of new van fleets with a staggering 96% of new van sales in the EU last year. Average fuel efficiency of new vans fluctuated massively between EU Member States last year, with different van models and sizes of vans being available in each of the countries.

Different vans for different markets affecting van emissions

Horses for courses is very much the case for the new van markets in different EU countries, average emissions were lowest in Portugal (133.2 g/km), Cyprus (133.4 g/km) and Bulgaria (134.9 g/km). At the other end of the scale, emissions were highest in Czech Republic (173.6 g/km) Slovakia (170.1 g/km) and Germany (169.2 g/km). A factor which will affect these figures is the average weight of new vans sold in the same period, with smaller vans sold in Malta, Cyprus and Portugal (< 1,570kg) and larger vans in Slovakia, Czech Republic and Finland (>1,950kg).

Final data will be analysed in the Autumn when the European Commission will also reveal whether new van manufacturers have achieved their own specific annual target for 2017.

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