Ford Leans on Hybrids to Meet EU Emission Rules

Ford Motor Co. says it will rely on plug-in hybrids, not all-electric cars, to meet the European Union’s tougher carbon dioxide emission rules for 2020-2021.

The company tells Automotive News Europe that its upcoming fleet of plug-ins will deliver exceptionally low CO₂ numbers. Ford’s new hybrid Kuga small crossover, for example, is rated at only 29 g/km on Europe’s NEDC test cycle. The region’s new WLTP test cycle is expected to yield greater emission levels.

EU standards demand that new-car fleets average CO₂ emission of 95 grams per kilometer by 2021, down from the current 120 g/km. Current rules call for a further reduction of 15% by 2025 and 37.5% by 2030 compared with 2021. Manufacturers that fail to meet the targets face fines of €95 ($107) per gram above the standard, multiplied by the number of cars sold.

ANE notes that the EU’s emission rules dictate that any vehicle emitting fewer than 50 g/km of CO₂ counts as two vehicles in 2020 when calculating overall fleet emissions. The ratio drops to 1.7 vehicles in 2021, 1.3 vehicles in 2022 and one in 2023.

Ford tells the newspaper that it will need a relatively small number of pure electrics to comply with the EU standard. The company plans to introduce an all-electric SUV in Europe in 2020 and a battery-powered Transit large commercial van in 2021.