Diesel Makers Get More Time to Comply with EU Standards

The makers of diesel-powered cars appear likely to get two more years to prove their vehicles comply with new EU emissions standards under real-world conditions, the Financial Times reports.

The latest proposal by the European Commission would require all-new diesel models to show by 2019 that their laboratory test emission levels also could be achieved on the road. Carryover diesels would have until 2020 to do the same.

The EC originally set a 2017 deadline for full compliance. Under the new plan, carmakers would be permitted to exceed EU's 80 mg/km emission limit for oxides of nitrogen by as much as 60% between now and 2019, according to the FT. The newspaper says a "significant margin for error" for NOx emissions would continue even after manufacturers gain full compliance.

Environmental researchers have for years drawn attention to huge gaps between low NOx levels achieved in government certification tests and and significantly higher emissions when the same models are tested under normal operating conditions.

The EC estimates about 10% of diesel models currently sold in Europe would have to be scrapped before their normal life cycle because they failed to comply with the proposed NOx standard. The activist group Transport & Environment estimates 90% of diesels currently in operation are emitting on average five times the allowable pollution.

The FT says transport ministers meeting in Brussels this week to discuss the new standards expressed mixed feelings about the plan. Some believe the limits are too harsh for Europe's auto industry.