ACEA: ‘Euro 7 4 to 10 times more expensive than budgeted’

ACE, (l’Association des Constructeurs Européens d’Automobiles or European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association) is a trade association for European car manufacturers, although ACEA no longer represents all European car manufacturers. However, ACEA’s voice is rightly still seen as important, so we cannot ignore the fact that this organization is now once again sounding the alarm when it comes to the Euro 7 emission standard.

According to the ACEA, the implementation of Euro 7 results in a huge cost item for car manufacturers, but also for consumers. A new fuel car would simply become €2,000 more expensive, while the costs of making a diesel truck suitable for Euro 7 would even amount to €12,000 per vehicle. According to ACEA, this is 4 to 10 times higher than what the European Commission itself calculated, namely €180-450 for cars and vans and €2,800 for trucks.

The trade association also points out that, with Euro 6, Europe already applies the strictest emission standards in the world. It is also pointed out that car manufacturers are already investing heavily in the complete electrification of the vehicle fleet, which is, after all, also a requirement of the European Union in the long term. “The European car industry has committed itself to CO2 emissions, but implementing Euro 7 is simply not the right way to do it,” says ACEA director Sigrid de Vries. “It has an extremely small effect on the environment, at an extremely high cost.”

In addition to the direct costs mentioned, the implementation of Euro 7 would, according to the European organization, also entail indirect costs, including – salient detail – higher fuel costs. This would increase costs for consumers and businesses by an additional 3.5 percent over the life of the vehicle.

Clean longer

Euro 7 does not bring too rigorous changes in the field of car emissions, but significant ones. For example, the emission standards that are currently still differentiated per fuel will be brought into line at the strictest level, which means 60 milligrams per kilometer in the case of NOx. Cars must also continue to meet those standards for longer: 10 years and 200,000 kilometers instead of half that. Euro 7 also looks at emissions caused by tires and brakes for the first time, so electric cars are not blamed. Euro standards are not about CO2 emissions (for which there are other standards), but about the emissions of harmful substances such as NOx (nitrogen oxides). ‘Euro 7’ should be introduced in 2025 for passenger cars and vans, followed in 2027 by trucks and buses. The intended implementation of Euro 7 has been generating complaints for some time, including from certain countries and specific car brands and manufacturers.