The EU wants cars to pollute less and the manufacturers are investing in making that happen - but how far can we trust their figures for CO2 emissions?

Reporter: What are your car's CO2 emissions?

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/16335133/m003-0259-en.srt

As European car manufacturers  are investing billions of euros

official experts and lobbyists  are questioning the tests

used to calculate the CO2 emissions  produced by vehicles.

Are the figures given by manufacturers  realistic? EuroparlTV investigated.

With this small device,  we'll start monitoring

and calculating CO2  and fuel consumption in real time.

And we'll display all that information on a  little tablet PC on the dashboard of the car.

The purpose of this experiment in the UK  is to see if there’s a difference

between a vehicle’s CO2 emission figures  in real driving conditions

and the figures given by the manufacturers.

The tests today  are under normal driving conditions

so we've got the air conditioning on,  we've got the fan on lightly,

the lights are set so that  the driving lights are on.

We're not trying to artificially make it better  or worse, we're just giving a realistic figure.

The CO2 is the largest of the three  on the graphs.

Down here you can see  the oxides of nitrogen

and on the far right the CO2 production.

or on a country road  where there is a lot of stop-start traffic,

the fuel consumption and  the CO2 go up dramatically.

After 20 minutes of testing  in the countryside and on a motorway,

We just finished that trip and  we averaged about 43 miles per gallon.

That works out to be  about 182-185 grams of CO2,

which works out to about 20% higher than  the average figure by the manufacturer.

Why such a big difference between  the manufacturers' data and the reality?

The manufacturers carry out their tests  mainly in the laboratory.

They are based on a European law called  NEDC, the New European Driving Cycle.

This legislation is from the 70s  and is obsolete.

In Brussels, an NGO is fighting to change it.  Here are its flaws.

For example, they use special lubricants,  which make the car move better.

They disconnect the battery  so that it doesn't charge during the test.

They test the vehicle at very  high temperatures so that it rolls better.

They use the engine management system  to get ultra low results just during the test.

Another part of the test measures how well  the car rolls and moves through the air,

so they'd remove the wing mirror,  they'd tape up the doors,

they'd make the car lighter, maybe  by taking out the back window.

All of those flexibilities  each make one or two percent,

but together they add up to  about a 25% difference

between the test results and  what drivers can achieve on the road.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’  Association defends the industry.

The manufacturers are not cheating  with the cycle, that's clear.

The manufacturers are respecting the law.

I do not understand  and I do not accept

that NGOs, some Members  of the European Parliament

and other stakeholders  are still going after this industry,

which after all is the world leader  in producing fuel efficient cars.

We've met a researcher who carried out  a study on vehicles’ CO2 emissions

He says some manufacturers use  the flexibilities of the test more than others.

We know some manufacturers are more  reluctant to use the flexibilities than others

and that in itself already  creates false competition.

So it would be in the manufacturers'  interests to do something about them,

because we see that they are now forcing  each other into using these flexibilities

in order to get low CO2 results for vehicles  qualifying, for instance, for fiscal incentives.

It’s a sensitive topic for the manufacturers,  especially those producing big saloons.

We tried to meet them  but they all declined

We mustn't hide the fact that there is  a difference, which is completely normal.

I think we’re actually all embarrassed by it,  because it’s disturbing for all of us.

Some clients complain and that’s not nice.

They can say that this difference is not  linked to the method of measurement

That may be why no-one wants  to speak about the topic.

Germany’s largest automobile club, ADAC,  has been raising the issue for years.

It argues for a global test, closer to reality  and common to all manufacturers.

The world cycle is supposed to replace the  New European Driving Cycle in the future.

It’s supposed to be valid worldwide and it  should be the basis for testing all vehicles.

Until now the EU and the US  have had their own cycles,

meaning the vehicles  cannot be compared directly.

The debate is raging also in the Parliament  with Thomas Ulmer as the rapporteur.

He is also recommending the introduction  of a new test at global level.

These cycles are set to be issued  by the UN organisation in Geneva.

We're planning for them  to enter into force in 2017.

Fuel consumption will then be considerably  closer to real consumption in road traffic.

The manufacturers have already invested  billions in reducing CO2 emissions.

However, the EU wants to go even further  and oblige the manufacturers

to reach values ranging between  68 and 78 grams of CO2/km.