EU: Public consultation on CO2 emissions measurement for multi-stage vans
The EU Commission has announced its intention to launch a public consultation on CO2 calculation and monitoring methods for multi-stage vans.
The initiative will update the way the CO2 emissions of multi-stage vans (i.e. light commercial vehicles manufactured and approved in several stages) are monitored and calculated. It will also update the method for calculating the mass of multi-stage vans.
As a part of the amendments, the Annexes II and III of Regulation (EU) 2019/631 (CO2 emission standards for cars and vans will be changed.
The issue of monitoring and measuring of CO2 emissions in case of multi-stage type approved vehicles is important but quite tricky. In the multi-stage type approval (which may be applied to all types of vehicles, not only vans), several manufacturers may built a vehicle jointly and each subsequent manufacturer is responsible only for the type approvals of vehicle systems and components he adds or modifies. As a result, they may apply for a type approval for an incomplete vehicle, only the final manufacturer, who completes the vehicle, is the holder of the type approval for the completed vehicle.
However, in this procedure, where so many manufacturers are involved, it is challenging to attribute the CO2 emissions to a concrete construction stage. That’s the issue that the public initiative will probably try to tackle.