Euro 7 Explained: How It Differs from Euro 6 and What It Means for Drivers
Understanding the Difference Between Euro 6 and Euro 7 Emission Standards
With climate change and pollution being a big topic of discussion and cause for concern in the world, vehicle emissions standards are becoming stricter across Europe. These emission standards are put in place to help regulate the harmful gases that vehicles emit and are said to play a crucial role in helping the environment and health. People are beginning to ask what the changes are going to be from Euro 6 to Euro 7. This article will break down these changes and explain what we are expecting to see from Euro 7.
What is Euro 6?
Euro 6 is the sixth version of the EU’s vehicle emission standards. It was introduced in September 2014. The main aims of Euro 6 were to reduce nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter from vehicle’s exhausts. These regulations were mainly made for diesel engines. The creation of these standards showed a massive crackdown on limits. For nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel cars, emissions were cut from 180 mg/km to 80 mg/km. Euro 6 also saw the widespread adoption of diesel particulate filters (DPFs) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems in diesel vehicles, which helped meet stricter limits.
Euro 7: A stricter approach to reducing emissions.
Euro 7 is the upcoming standard, expected to come into force in 2026 for cars and light-duty vehicles. While Euro 6 focused mainly on reducing certain pollutants, Euro 7 goes further by aiming to reduce emissions across all powertrains and make it consistent. This means it includes petrol, diesel, hybrid, and electric vehicles.
Here are the key differences:
1. Tougher Emission Limits: Euro 7 will enforce stricter NOx and PM limits across vehicle types. In many cases, it brings the same limits to diesel and petrol vehicles, simplifying the framework but demanding more from manufacturers.
2. Real-World Conditions: While Euro 6 introduced real-world testing, Euro 7 will expand this to cover a broader range of driving conditions, including cold starts, high-speed driving, and short trips.
3. Brake and Tire Emissions: For the first time, Euro 7 includes non-exhaust emissions which is for those from brakes and tires. This is added as electric vehicles, which produce no tailpipe emissions, still emit particles from tire wear and braking.
4. Longer Vehicle Lifespan Compliance: Vehicles will now need to meet emission standards for a longer portion of their operational life (at least 200,000 km or 10 years), doubling the durability requirements of Euro 6. So, this makes it more of a consistent law.
5. Data Transparency: Euro 7 also states onboard monitoring systems that track real-time emissions data, making it easier to ensure compliance and improving transparency.
When can you expect to see these changes?
It has been decided that the Euro 7 emissions standard will be implemented in different stages. Below are the dates that each stage will be introduced.
• 29 November 2026: All newly type-approved passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (categories M1 and N1) must comply with Euro 7 standards.
• 29 November 2027: All newly registered passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, including existing models, must meet Euro 7 requirements.
• 29 May 2028: New type approvals for heavy-duty vehicles (categories M2, M3, N2, N3) must comply with Euro 7 standards.
• 29 May 2029: All newly registered heavy-duty vehicles must meet Euro 7 requirements.
Conclusion
We can see from comparing the 2 standards that there has been a much more demanding step from the EU to reduce vehicle emissions. Some benefits can be taken from this switch are cleaner air, progress to climate change goals and some would argue health benefits. It is really important to state that implementing these changes will create quite a struggle for vehicle manufacturers as they have to adapt to the new requirements this is a hard job and can disrupt their productivity and production speed. The stricter the rules get, the harder it is to create more vehicles.
