From today's Times. Comments welcomed.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 350454.ece
Motorists are to be forced to change the way they drive to help car manufacturers to meet strict new emission targets, the European Union announced yesterday.
All new cars will be fitted with devices that tell drivers when to change gear, what speeds to drive at and even when to pump up their tyres.
The introduction of new technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ordered by Brussels yesterday, could add more than £2,000 to the price of a typical family car, manufacturers said.
But the European Union said this would be offset by a reduction in fuel bills. Brussels also dismissed industry claims that the plans put up to 12 million European jobs at risk.
The EU announced legislation to force manufacturers to sell cars that produce lower levels of greenhouse gas after they failed to meet voluntary targets.
Green groups criticised the Commission for backing away from its original plans for a much lower target for CO2 emissions in the face of fierce lobbying from the German car industry. Commissioners insisted that a legal target of 130g of CO2 per km for new cars by 2012, combined with a further 10g/km reduction from biofuels and extra measures such as air-conditioning standards, represented the toughest regulatory approach in the world.
But they agreed that drivers should share responsibility for reducing the damage caused by cars. Motorists had to be discouraged from buying gas-guzzlers. They also should be encouraged to drive in a more sensible way.
So new cars will have compulsory electronic stability control and emergency braking systems, with warning lights telling drivers when to change gear efficiently and alerting them to low tyre pressure.
The range of measures to try to change driver behaviour were proposed by a group set up by Gunter Verheugen, the German industry commissioner, to take the pressure off manufacturers from having to meet the EU’s environmental targets through engine technology alone.
Carmakers argue that they would be doing much better at meeting green targets if it was not for the changing demands of consumers and regulators.
Ivan Hodac, the general secretary of ACEA, the European car manufacturers’ association, said: “People require more comfortable cars and since people are becoming taller and a little bit heavier, cars are also higher and a little bit heavier.”
He said that green targets had been missed partly through incessant demands for more safety features such as airbags, which also made cars heavier and less fuel-efficient.
Another technology that could help to cut emissions is known as “stop-go”, when the car switches off at traffic lights or in a stationary queue, turning on again when the accelerator is pressed. Mr Hodac said that so far, experiments with this approach had not worked well enough to go into mass production in Europe.
The measures will apply to all cars sold in the European Union, including those made in Japan, the US and China.
But no decision has been made on whether the legislation should apply across the board or whether each manufacturer will be set its own CO2 targets — a move that is certain to be contested by makers of large cars such as Audi and BMW during a consultation process that could last a year.
Mr Verheugen, who is seen as a defender of his country’s huge carmaking interests and who was instrumental in reducing the target, gave warning yesterday that the brunt of legislation could fall on the worst offenders, to avoid squeezing the makers of small and medium-sized cars out of business.
Reducing the EU’s 41,000 annual road deaths is another priority, with compulsory daytime use of headlights likely from 2009. National governments will be urged to link road tax more closely to CO2 emissions and carmakers will be asked to change the way they advertise.
The proposals will be debated by the European Parliament before going to heads of government for a final decision.
MEPs are bracing themselves for a ferocious lobbying campaign from carmakers.
Guiding lights
- Warning lights will tell drivers when to change gear and when they are not driving at the optimum speed for fuel efficiency
- An alarm will advise when tyre pressure is too low
- Emergency braking systems will deter excessive use of brakes/accelerator
- “Stop-go” technology will switch off an engine at traffic lights or in a stationary queue. Engines will turn on again when accelerator pressed