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CO2 data disclosure gathers momentum
Date: 13 December 2007 | Author: Guy Bird
Mercedes and Peugeot are poised to become the first two LCV manufacturers to publish CO2 and mpg data across their van ranges.
From January 2008 both brands have pledged to publish emissions and economy data on all their major LCVs. The figures will be based on unladen LCVs using the passenger car test cycle, which has become the common testing standard for vans too.
Mercedes Sprinter product manager John Reed said the details would be online from 1 January and published in a dedicated brochure early in 2008. He told BusinessCar: "It's a positive thing. With a clear test cycle to use at last we can go forward."
What has created the impetus for some makers to divulge the data - long calculated in different ways for internal use but rarely shared with the public - was this levelling of the testing playing field and an EU directive that emissions data for all goods vehicles under 3.5 tonnes must be monitored from 1 January .
The only confusing element within the legislation is that it does not yet require van makers to make this data public. Many expect an EU stipulation to publish the data to follow, as has been the case for cars for many years.
Peugeot and Citroen started publicising some CO2 and mpg data from early 2007 with the launch of their respective Expert and Dispatch vans, and VW and Mercedes have published mpg figures on specific models tested for some time. Where vans have been adapted to passenger vehicles, mpg data has had to be made available for type approval reasons.
However, most makers - including Ford and Vauxhall - do not intend to publish full data come January. Ford's Governmental affairs manager John Lippe told BusinessCar: "While we don't object fundamentally, we want it to be useful. Our hesitation is that we are not convinced the figures are as useful as they are for cars given the greater variety of uses and weights involved."
