Traffic The change in the labels will not be retroactive
Regulation Large SUVs will pay more to park in cities
The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) plans for this year a modification of the environmental labels that are causing a clash between the Government, car manufacturers and brands and environmental groups.
The
label system was created in 2016
and four badges, Zero emissions, ECO, B and C, were available to classify vehicles according to the different European emission regulations. There is one more label, although it does not have a physical label, which would be A and would group the most polluting vehicles: diesel cars before 2006 and gasoline cars before 2000 as well as motorcycles and mopeds before 2003 do not have a sticker or distinctive as
they do not meet the requirements
to be labeled as clean vehicles.
Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, has spoken on numerous occasions about the changes that will be made to the labels and, above all, about when this change would be made.
Navarro has spoken of finding a consensus among all the actors before July so that the new labels would be in force at the end of the year.
"It is true that
we can make a new label
, and that is where the shots go, which allows us to better adjust, locate or be able to locate some
novelties
or some
dysfunctions that we have detected
(in the current system)," Navarro explained last February in the presentation of the think tank on sustainable and connected mobility EY Mobility Center.
What are the dysfunctions?
The two largest Spanish capitals have used DGT labels to veto access to the center.
Madrid and Barcelona restrict circulation to vehicles favoring those with the Zero and ECO labels.
In Madrid, for example, unlabeled vehicles cannot park in the SER regulated parking zone.
In addition, in
high pollution episodes,
vehicles without a label cannot circulate.
The dysfunctions that Navarro talks about are fundamentally three.
Zero emission vehicles include plug-in hybrids with more than 40 km of electric range.
These cars emit CO2 when they run with the combustion engine running.
Pere Navarro, director of the DGT.
The second would be on
the ECO label
that
brings together all the other hybrids
: plug-ins of less than 40 kilometers, conventional electric hybrids, hybrids of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, and to which the so-called
light hybrids (mild hybrid, in English).
The latter are the ones that incorporate a 12 to 48 volt battery that assists the different electrical systems of the vehicle while saving fuel. This makes, for example, that a
Range Rover Vogue
diesel with 350 horses that certifies 9.2 liters of consumption per 100 kilometers in the WLTP cycle and emissions of 241 g / km of CO2, has the ECO label; or an
Audi RS6
with 600 horses and that certifies 12.6 liters of consumption and emissions of 283 gr / km, also has the ECO label. But not only large SUVs or high-end sports cars benefit from this technology, but also generalist models: the
Volkswagen Golf
, the best-selling model in Europe, has a so-called eTSI gasoline engine with 130 horses, which certifies 5.5 liters of consumption and emissions of 125 g / km of CO2, it also has the ECO label.
The inclusion of gas powered vehicles is
also
controversial
here
, since at no time
, neither LPG nor CNG vehicles,
circulate in zero emissions mode.
And
third
, the
C label
is the one that all new diesel or gasoline vehicles receive.
It does not make sense that
a vehicle with current technology has the same distinctive as a gasoline car registered in February 2005
, 15 years ago.
Proposal to change the labels of environmentalists.
Zero emissions only for electrics
With the dysfunctions
exposed
,
Ecodes
,
Ecologists in Action
,
Greenpeace
and
Transport & Environment
presented last Wednesday their proposal to update the DGT's environmental labels. Among other things, they
propose to remove plug-
in
hybrids
with an electric range greater than 40 kilometers
from the ZERO Emissions category
and
reserve it only for vehicles with zero emissions
'in situ' such as pure electric (BEV) and fuel cell hydrogen.
"If it has an exhaust pipe, it cannot be zero emissions," they argue.
Another of the proposals that would be considered by the Government would be the option of raising the autonomy of plug-in hybrids to 90 km or more, as occurs in the Moves III plan to have the ZERO emissions label.
From
Anfac
, the employers' association of car manufacturers, they consider that it would be a serious mistake to remove plug-in hybrids from this distinctive.
"They are the perfect vehicles to make the transition from the combustion vehicle to the electric vehicle and achieve decarbonisation," they
explain.
They would be in favor of including some type of
device that indicates when the plug-in hybrid vehicle circulates in electric mode
.
In such a way that it could be controlled if it really transits in zero emissions mode through a low emissions area such as Madrid Central, for example.
Failure to do so would be fined.
No to the ECO label
Environmentalists want the ECO label removed
.
"The ECO label is anything but ecological. It includes gas vehicles, a fossil fuel that does not contribute to decarbonisation. Hybrid vehicles are also considered ECO, even those with greater weight and displacement, many of which are less efficient than their equivalents with internal combustion engine ", assures
Adrián Fernández,
coordinator of the mobility campaign of Greenpeace Spain.
"Some large-displacement SUVs get the ECO label simply because they incorporate a small 48V battery, which seems to us an aberration and nonsense," he insists.
If this label were eliminated,
the biggest penalties would be conventional hybrids
, less polluting than mild
hybrids
and gas vehicles, and that are capable of circulating in zero emissions mode, reducing harmful gases.
Label D for diesel and gasoline
To replace the ECO label, environmental organizations propose to incorporate
a new distinctive with the letter D that would group all hybrids
(also plug-ins) and new internal combustion vehicles (including gas) that comply with the European Euro emission regulations. 5 or 6 in the case of gasoline cars, and Euro 6d in the case of diesel vehicles.
A technological simplification that manufacturers are not willing to accept.
In addition, to
obtain the new D label, the vehicle's CO2 emissions must be less than 95 g / km
, the current average limit that the European Union requires of car manufacturers for new vehicles sold in a year.
If they exceed it, they are fined.
For example, Seat accounted for 226 million euros to this penalty in its 2020 balance.
Reminder of access to Central Madrid.
In other words, environmentalists propose that new cars could be ZERO, D or C. "This D label is designed for hybrid or plug-in hybrids and small and highly efficient urban vehicles. SUVs, which we have seen consume more because they are big and heavy, they won't get into this category. "
Actual emissions
Another proposal from environmental groups is to include real CO2 emissions, since, as they denounce,
"the current labels do not measure the CO2 emitted, but local pollutants (such as NOx or particles)
. And certain cars, especially the larger ones, they can emit very little NOx but are very inefficient with CO2. " Specifically, they ask "to incorporate a CO2 emission threshold, so that for each category both the corresponding Euro standard requirements and a certain CO2 emissions cap must be met, always measured under the
WLTP
standard
". "The low-emission zones should serve to reduce air pollution, protect the health of citizens and fight against climate change," says Cristian Quílez, from Ecodes.
Environmental groups consider
the current system of environmental badges
"inefficient" and "incoherent"
because they classify as 'ecological' vehicles that under real driving conditions are more polluting than they claim to be ".
"Even highly polluting vehicles can obtain a C or even ECO classification. We need a labeling system that positively discriminates against vehicles that actually pollute less," claims Nuria Blázquez, from Ecologists in Action.
A Mustang Mach E plugged into a charging point.FGF
Mild hybrid
For their part, car brands (Anfac), dealers (Faconauto) and sellers (Ganvam) demand a new badge for new gasoline and diesel cars that distinguishes them from the old ones.
Specifically, this sticker would be for vehicles that comply with the Euro 6d Temp regulation onwards.
This new category would be the
D label
, as proposed by ecologists, but they are opposed to eliminating the ECO label or removing plug-in hybrids from the ZERO Emissions category.
They take for granted that
mild hybrids will come off the ECO label.
This will make their purchase less attractive, since they will lose privileges associated with said label, such as, for example, paying for half of the SER zone in Madrid.
"I could accept that they removed 'mild hybrids' from the ECO label, but it would be a mistake to leave plug-in hybrids out of the ZERO Emissions mark," said Luis Antonio Ruiz, president and CEO of Jaguar, a little over a month ago. Land Rover for Spain and Portugal.
Color change
Environmentalists also propose to modify the colors given to each badge,
"reserving the color green exclusively for the ZERO category
, as it is the color that is traditionally identified with environmental values."
They are also in favor of maintaining the current classification for vehicles A (without label), B and C. Now the label ZERO is blue, the ECO, green and blue, the C e green and the B yellow.
Do not forget that each label
costs 5 euros
and is purchased at the Post Office.
Not retroactive
However, all
changes to the labeling will not be retroactive.
Pere Navarro explained it at the EY Mobility Center.
"We are clear that, first,
it cannot have retroactive effect. It is a matter of legal certainty
. People have bought the vehicle based on its label and we cannot say: 'What you have bought now is not worth it and we are going to change. '
We are serious people and we cannot create legal uncertainty
. With which, (all the labeled cars) will
continue with their label and it will continue to be valid
. "
Similarly, Mario Arnaldo, president of Automovilístas Europeos Asociados, adds another important nuance.
If it is not retroactive, "Traffic should notify each owner in case he wants to claim", because it involves a modification of the authorization to circulate with the vehicle, and gives the case of Central Madrid as an example.
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