EEA report on CO2 emissions from passenger cars and vans in 2018

On 3 June 2020, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report that found emissions from new cars registered in the EU, the UK and Iceland increased in 2018. The rise was mainly due to the growing share of petrol cars in new registrations, in particular in the sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment, and the limited market uptake of zero-and low-emission vehicles, including electric cars. The 2018 data on new registrations can be explored through a new EEA data dashboard.

After a steady decline from 2010 to 2016, average emissions from new cars increased by 0.4g CO2/km in 2017 and by 2.3g CO2/km in 2018, to reach 120.8 g CO2/km. While this is 7% below the 2018 target of 130g CO2/km, a 27% gap must still be filled to reach the target of 95g CO2/km that applies from 2020 onwards.

Similarly, average emissions of new vans had decreased by 24g CO2/km between 2012 and 2017, but increased from 156.1g CO2/km in 2017 to 157.9g CO2/km in 2018. While this is 10% below the 2018 target of 175g CO2/km, average emissions were still 7% above the 2020 target.

Source: EEA, 3 June 2020