Automobiles are one of the main culprits of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
Europe, the United States, and Korea all regulate the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from vehicles.
However, it was revealed that the world's leading automobile brands, including Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors, failed one after another because they failed to meet the standards when they came to Korea after observing these greenhouse gas regulations well in Europe.
How did it happen?
Let's find out now.
An inspection site where emission tests are in progress.
After connecting the measuring pipe to the exhaust port, the exhaust gas components are measured.
For all vehicles sold annually by an automobile company, the average value of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted when running 1 km becomes the greenhouse gas regulation standard.
For Europe, this average must be within 95 grams.
According to the European inspection in 2020, most brands, including Hyundai and Kia, complied with this standard.
This is because the penalty for exceeding 1g is 130,000 won, which is more than twice that of Korea, which is a huge amount.
[Lee Ho-geun/Daedeok University Future Automotive Department Professor: (One car company simulation result) The fine was 2.9 trillion.
As a result, we had no choice but to set up a strong strategy to spread eco-friendly cars and avoid fines (Europe) at all costs.] It
was different in Korea.
The 2020 Ministry of Environment inspection results were recently released, and it was found that 13 out of 19 brands tested exceeded the standard.
Eight of them, including Hyundai and Kia, passed in Europe, but failed in Korea in the same year.
It is said that this is because there is a high preference for mid-sized cars that emit a lot of greenhouse gases, but this is not all.
Unlike Europe, there was a hole in Korea called the grace system that you can escape even if you fail.
By giving a grace period of 3 to 5 years, it was possible to carry forward the measurements of the year.
[Kim Gwang-il/Secretary General of the Green Transportation Movement: How can the (greenhouse gas management) system be effective when the imposition of fines is postponed for several years, the level of fines is also lowered, etc. .]
This is not the only looser regulation than Europe.
Selling an electric vehicle with zero carbon emissions lowers the average carbon emission of the company, and both Europe and Korea give incentives called super credits to encourage sales of eco-friendly vehicles.
By the way, Europe's super credit calculates the sale of one electric car as two sales of the same car, whereas in Korea, it is calculated as three units per unit.
As a result, suspicions are growing that domestic consumers are being neglected by prioritizing the supply of electric vehicles abroad in order to meet the standards of Europe, where regulations are strict and fines are expensive.
In fact, as of 2020, 6.2% of vehicles sold in Europe were electric, whereas only 2% in Korea.
[Kwon Yong-joo/Adjunct Professor, Department of Automotive Transportation Design, Kookmin University: Europe has strong regulations, so manufacturers pay fines if they can't sell (eco-friendly cars).
So, we have to sell to Europe first.
because you pay the fine
We don't pay fines.
Then we would think that it would be okay to supply (eco-friendly cars) a little slowly.]
It has been 10 years since Korea's automobile greenhouse gas regulations were established, and how much has it been reduced in the meantime.
Since 2016, we have reduced by just 1%, while in Europe we have reduced by close to 10%.
Reducing automobile greenhouse gas emissions was virtually nothing.
In particular, the problem is the preference of our drivers, who like big cars, as automakers say, and such loose regulations are creating side effects that rather encourage the preference for medium and large cars.
(Planning: Lee Ho-geon, composition: Kim Tae-yeon, video coverage: Kim Won-bae · Cho Chang-hyun, video editing: Park Ki-deok, CG: Jo Soo-in)