Volvo aim to provide better emissions information

With the UK facing a fine of up to £300m for its poor air quality and the Environmental Audit Committee predicting 50,000 premature deaths* through air pollution, Volvo believes it’s time to educate drivers of a car’s complete emissions picture rather than just CO₂ in isolation. Automotive emissions other than CO₂ (NOx, Hydrocarbons and Particulates**) are the key contributors to poor air quality, particularly in urban areas, and are one of the main reasons why the UK suffers from one of the highest recordable asthma rates in the world***.

Volvo is proposing:

• The launch of an automotive air pollutants environmental label to sit alongside the already established CO₂ label displayed in new and used car showrooms
• To launch a phone/PC App, which gives drivers access to total emissions information when visiting a new or used car showroom
• Setting up the Emissions Equality Think Tank to help put air quality to the forefront of peoples’ minds on a continued basis

The comparison between larger Volvo estate and saloon models against a selection of small cars makes for interesting reading. A Volvo V70 premium estate 2.5 petrol manual generates 201mg/km of non-CO₂ pollutants, compared with the 1.4 litre Fiat 500 Start Stop which, counter intuitively, at 484mg/km, generates more than twice as many other pollutants. Similarly, a Volvo S80 1.6D DRIVe executive saloon generates 636mg/km of non-CO₂ pollutants – around 5% fewer than the 1.3-litre Toyota Yaris diesel supermini (679mg/100km).

“In 1976 Volvo was the first on the market with the three way catalytic converter with oxygen sensor (Lambdasond^®) which removes up to 90 per cent of noxious exhaust emissions and was the first company to sign up to the 1992 Kyoto Treaty on Climate Change,” explained Peter Rask, Volvo Car UK’s Managing Director

“Over many decades Volvo has been committed to designing and engineering cars that are kind on the environment and its drivers. Our cars perform very well in all tailpipe emissions and some, but not all, are best-in-class. However, this is more about encouraging greater transparency in the automotive industry across all emissions,”

“This isn't about reducing the focus on CO₂, our campaign is about all drivers being given easy access to the complete set of pollutants information so they can make a more informed decision when they buy a new or used car,” he added.

The Volvo three point plan in more detail:

1. Volvo Car UK will encourage the Department for Transport and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to mandate a second environmental label covering non-CO₂ emissions for all new and used cars up to five years of age. This would sit alongside the current CO₂ label on all cars displayed. The CO₂ and other emissions information shouldn't be combined in one single label as drivers still need to understand CO₂ emissions for tax purposes. All of this information is readily available on the VCA website (www.vca.gov.uk).

Volvo believes there is room for a new environmental label similar to the one in the United States of America, run by the US Environmental Protection Agency which scores the environmental impact of vehicles, including both air quality and CO₂ emissions. http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/Index.do.

2.  Volvo Car UK is launching a phone/PC App in the next few weeks to make all air pollution and CO₂ emission information readily available to drivers for when they visit a showroom to choose their next car.

3.  Volvo Car UK will create an Emissions Equality Automotive Air Pollution Think Tank to move the subject of emissions and air quality further up the agenda of the automotive industry over the coming 12-24 months. The Think Tank already has a number of high-profile members covering all sides of the debate, including Environmental Protection UK's Policy Officer Ed Dearnley, environmentalist and TV naturalist Chris Packham, Professor of Environmental Health from Kings College London Frank Kelly, the automotive environmental commentator Jay Nagley from CleanGreenCars.co.uk and Volvo's own environmental consultant Don Potts.

Further discussion and debate will also be directed to www.facebook.com/insidevolvouk and www.twitter.com/insidevolvouk, where conversation will be tagged #EmissionsEquality.