Euro 7 – what does the EU's new emission class mean?

The Euro 6 emission standard is about to be replaced by the new Euro 7, which tightens the requirements not only for pollutants from fossil-fuelled engines, but also from tyres and brakes. But criticism has already been directed at the proposal from several quarters – we investigate this and what the emission standard means.

The regulations in emission class Euro 7 (Euro VII for heavy vehicles) are scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2025. But before the proposal can be passed, the European Parliament must discuss the matter and make a decision.

With emission class Euro 7, fully electric cars will also be included in the regulations. Among other things, particle emissions from brakes and tires will be limited. This is because an electric car is generally heavier and therefore puts more wear on the brakes and tires.

What does emission class Euro 7 mean?

Euro 7 covers passenger cars, light trucks, lorries and buses and, in short, means that:

• Emissions from brakes should be limited

• Regulations introduced for microplastic pollution from tires

• Emission regulations must be followed for a longer period of time (10 years or 20000 km)

• Emissions tests to become more efficient

• Compliance with the rules should be checked digitally

• Better market surveillance tests

For vehicles with combustion engines, this also means that:

• There will be fuel and technology-neutral emission limits to comply with.

• Further pollution should be regulated.

• Road tests should cover more driving conditions.

For electric cars and plug-in hybrids, the emission class means:

• Battery durability requirements.

Source: Technology World

The Council of the European Union has given its position

Before a proposal is discussed and voted on in the EU Parliament, the matter is prepared in the Council of the European Union. The Council issued its position on 25 September 2023, providing the following inputs:

• That existing testing conditions and emission limits according to Euro 6 should be maintained in Euro 7 for passenger cars and light trucks. This is in view of the investments currently being made by the industry to switch to the production of emission-free cars.

• that the emission limits should be lower for buses and heavy commercial vehicles and that the conditions should be adjusted slightly compared to Euro 6 for these vehicles.

• That there should also be limit values for brake particle emissions in Euro 7 and also for tire wear. They would like to see the same standard adopted by the UN Economic Commission.

Criticism of the proposal

The new rules, if implemented, will make vehicles significantly more expensive to own, everyone agrees. But there is disagreement about how much more expensive it will actually be.

The European Commission's calculations have concluded that a passenger car, according to the original proposal, will become approximately SEK 2,000 - 5,000 more expensive, while trucks and buses will become approximately SEK 30,000 more expensive. As a counterbalance to the cost increases, the European Commission believes that "for every euro spent on Euro 7 technology, EUR 5 is saved on the environment and health".

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) has previously strongly criticised these calculations, citing a commissioned study from Frontier Economics that shows a significantly higher cost. They believe that the introduction of Euro 7 will mean cost increases of up to SEK 140,000 for diesel-powered buses and trucks. Passenger cars and vans with combustion engines will be around SEK 30,000 more expensive based on the original proposal for Euro 7.

According to the study, the EU Commission's cost estimates only refer to direct manufacturing costs for equipment and investments, among other things. In addition to these direct costs, ACEA claims that the Euro 7 proposal will also entail indirect costs , such as higher fuel consumption. It is estimated that the increase will be as much as 3.5%. This may not sound like much, but over the lifetime of a vehicle it means a lot of money – for passenger cars around SEK 7,500 and up to SEK 230,000 for long-haul trucks.

Sigrid de Vries is Director General of ACEA, and she says:

“The European automotive industry is committed to further reducing emissions for the benefit of the climate, the environment and health, but the Euro 7 proposal is simply not the right way to do it as it would have an extremely low environmental impact at an extremely high cost.”

The Swedish industry organization Mobility Sweden has also had objections. They mainly point to the rules regarding car tires, and argue that it is not even possible to measure what type and how much particles actually come from the tires. The positive thing about the proposal is that it gives us a way to set requirements for electric cars.

After studying the proposal, Calle Beckvid, technical coordinator at Mobility Sweden, has sent a consultation response to the Swedish government. It states:

Mobility Sweden believes that the current emission legislation according to Euro 6/VI has been, and still is, an important tool for reducing emissions from road traffic. Taking into account the technological development that has occurred since Euro 6/VI was introduced, we believe that there may be reason to update the emission legislation, in some parts. The proposal, in its current form, risks to a great extent creating conflicts of objectives in the work of meeting the requirements for zero-emission light vehicles from 2035, as well as reducing CO2 emissions from heavy vehicles.

Euro 7 is scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2025. A vote will take place in the EU Parliament in early November 2023.