German Carmakers Seek Easing of Europe CO2 Rules

German carmakers want to alter a proposed European Commission formula that would require new cars sold in Europe in 2020 to emit an average of only 95 g/km of carbon dioxide, Reuters reports.

The EC plan would allow carmakers to offset higher CO₂ emissions from piston-powered cars with "supercredits" earned by selling ultra-low-emission electric and hybrid vehicles.

Germany's VDA automotive trade group proposes letting vehicles with somewhat higher emissions qualify for supercredits. Doing so would raise the effective EC average for a full-line vehicle manufacturer by about 10 g/km, opponents and supporters agree.

Germany claims the scheme would encourage carmakers to build lower-emitting vehicles. Environmentalists predict it would have the opposite effect.

VDA also proposes to scrap an EC plan that in 2020 would permit carmakers to build no more than 20,000 vehicles per year that exceed CO₂ emission limits.

Carmakers in Europe, Korea and Japan volunteered in 2007 to reduce the CO₂ emission average for new cars sold in the European Union to 120 g/km by 2012. The EC says the actual average last year was about 136 g/km. Carmakers are required to achieve an average of 130 g/km by 2015.