EU: Average CO2 emissions from new cars decrease by 12% in 2020
8 July 2021
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its provisional data about the CO2 emissions of newly registered passenger cars and vans in Europe in 2020. For cars, the data show a 12% decrease in average CO2 emissions, compared with 2019. Average van emissions also decreased slightly, by about 1.5%. In spite of these decreases, the average CO2 emissions for both passenger cars and vans remained above the regulatory targets for 2020, and manufacturers can be expected to be liable for emission penalties.
According to the EEA’s provisional data, the average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars registered in the EU, Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom in 2020 were 107.8 g/km. This was 14.5 g, or 12%, lower than in 2019 and represented the first decrease since 2016. The share of electrically chargeable vehicles (BEV + PHEV) in new registrations tripled from about 3.5% in 2019 to about 11% in 2020.
2018: EU-28 + Iceland; 2019-2020: EU-27 + Iceland + Norway + UK
The average CO2 emissions of new vans were registered in Europe in 2020 were 157.7 g/km, which is 2.3 g (1.5%) lower than in 2019. The share of electrically chargeable vans increased from 1.4% in 2019 to about 2.3% in 2020.
A CO2 emissions target of 95 g/km must be met by 95% of each manufacturers’ new passenger cars registered in 2020, and by 100% of cars from 2021 onwards. For vans, the 2020 target is 147 g/km. Manufacturers who miss their average CO2 targets are subject to penalties:
- For passenger cars, manufacturers pay €95 for each g/km exceeding the target per vehicle.
- For vans, the penalty is €120 for each g/km exceeding the target.
The European Commission will confirm whether individual manufacturers or pools have met their own specific annual targets, which are based on the average mass of the cars registered.
The EEA collects and makes available data on emissions from new passenger cars and vans registered in Europe, in accordance with EU Regulation (EU) No 2019/631. The data are reported by all EU Member States, United Kingdom, Iceland (since 1 January 2018) and Norway (since 1 January 2019) in order to evaluate the efficiency of the new vehicle fleet, and includes information on CO2 emissions and vehicle mass.
Source: EEA