Australia’s car emissions winners and losers in 2022

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry (FCAI) has released its 2022 emissions results for each individual brand.

In it First announcement Regarding the voluntary emission reduction standard, it confirmed that the target of heavy SUVs and light commercial vehicles (MC + NA) was not met while passenger cars and light SUVs (MA) did.

Now, it confirmed which brands hit their goals and which didn’t.

It’s worth noting that various brands have forwarded credits that, as the name suggests, can be carried over to 2023 emissions results.

Type MA (cars and light SUVs)

Electric-only brands like BYD and Polestar naturally hit their mark, while others that performed well in the MA category included BMW, Lexus, Toyota and Volvo.

Those that don’t do well include Chevrolet, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, all of which produce high-performance sports cars.

Brands that could reduce their emissions compared to the previous year are indicated by brackets in the table below.

MC+NA type (commercial vehicle and large SUV)

In the MC+NA category, Chevrolet once again missed its target, with others like GWM, Mercedes-Benz Cars and Nissan also falling short.

In contrast, the Volvo Car runs strong.

The 2022 target for the MC + NA category is 189 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled. The overall result is 212.8 grams, actually a slight increase from 2021’s 212.5 grams.

That’s disappointing, as between 2020 and 2021 this has dropped from 218 grams.

There is better news in the MA category, with an average of 131 grams. This is down from 146 grams in 2021, which is also the target number for 2022.

For context, the result for this category for 2020 is 150 grams. This is the first year that results for both categories are available.

The reduction target from 2020 to 2030 is to reduce MA vehicles to 100g/km and MC+NA vehicles to 145g/km, with reductions of four and three percent per year, respectively.

That will still leave powerful, polluting performance cars on the table, but their sales will need to be offset by hybrids, plug-in hybrids or low-emissions electric vehicles to lower the average. vehicle fleet.

FCAI says brands will grow at different rates, depending on their model cycle, and since it’s a voluntary program, there’s no penalty for not meeting goals.

FCAI last month called for a CO2 standard mandated by the Federal Government, one that “takes into account the consumer, the unique nature of the Australian market, product availability, affordability and completeness of the product.” full range of zero and low emission technologies”.

The FCAI director said: “We have the opportunity to set a standard that will help us on our way to reducing emissions, assist car manufacturers in attracting the best low-emission technology to the Australian market and providing Australian consumers with certainty and clarity about future vehicle availability.” CEO Tony Weber.

“We look forward to continuing to work constructively with the Federal Government to make this a reality,” added Mr Weber.

But the head of FCAI also argued that any push by the government to phase out sales of internal combustion vehicles in favor of electric vehicles is unwise.

He said: “Our efforts to simplify our journey to net zero that can only be achieved through EVs ignore Australian consumers’ purchasing preferences, actual market supply, price and the real impact of other low-emission technologies”.

“Globally, there is limited supply of batteries and assistive technology to meet demand for all new vehicles, especially the larger vehicles that the majority of Australians choose to buy.

“Development work is being done by automakers worldwide to overcome these challenges. However, we are not likely to see a significant improvement in the availability of these vehicles at prices many Australians can afford until at least the end of the decade.”

Standard use of forwarding credits and debits. Each zero-emission vehicle sold will count as three under the scheme, while another two tiers allow manufacturers to claim low-emissions vehicles of two or 1.5 sales.

New light vehicles are still subject to Australia’s Design Rule 79/04, which is based on the Euro 5 emissions standard. That’s despite the Euro 6 standard coming into effect in Europe in 2015.

Although standards have been established for the emission of harmful pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons, nitrous oxide (NOx), as well as particle mass and particle count, the Australian Government has not yet established them. a fleet. emissions targets for automakers.

Australian government proposes to introduce low sulfur gasoline from 2027 to 2024With the automakers flagging, we need cleaner fuels before Euro 6 standards can be introduced here.

As part of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, the Government is consultation with stakeholders about whether fuel economy standards can help reduce emissions and promote the use of electric vehicles.

It said more than 80 percent of all vehicles sold in the world were covered by a fuel economy standard, including the United States, China, Japan and India.

THAN: Emission Targets Explained: Q&A with FCAI CEO Tony Weber