Green NCAP is a

green vehicle A green vehicle, clean vehicle, eco-friendly vehicle or environmentally friendly vehicle is a road motor vehicle that produces less harmful impacts to the environment than comparable conventional internal combustion engine vehicles running o ...

assessment programme hosted and supported by the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) in cooperation with European Governments. The Organisation has test laboratories in eight European countries and aims to increase awareness of the environmental impact of the vehicles. The first set of results was released on 28 February 2019. , the organisation considers only energy used while driving, however it plans to expand testing procedures further, in order to cover the entire life-cycle of the car as well as the range of the

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

Testing Procedure

Test is divided into two major stages. The first one is a test on the

chassis dynamometer A chassis dynamometer, informally referred to as a rolling road or a dyno, is a mechanical device that uses one or more fixed roller assemblies to simulate different road conditions within a controlled environment, and is used for a wide variety o ...

, adhering to the WLTP procedure, with a slight modification: temperature is set to , which is close to European average, and the vehicle has lights, air conditioning and other typical systems turned on, while also carrying a realistic payload. In total an equivalent five WLTP tests are conducted. The second part includes road testing with portable emissions measurement system which adheres to the further expanded European Union's Real Driving Emissions. Expanded testing conditions include driving at altitudes from 0 to 1300

metres above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

, and ambient temperatures from .

Scoring

Scoring is divided into Overall Rating – between 0 and 5 stars – and two major groups: Clean Air Index and Energy Efficiency Index. Clean Air Index covers

air pollutant Air pollution is the presence of substances in the air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be gases like ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles like soot and dust. It affects both outdoor ...

emissions for unburnt hydrocarbons (HC),

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...

(CO),

nitrogen oxides In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tr ...

() and

particulates Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspension (chemistry), suspended in the atmosphere of Earth, air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate ...

(PN) for each for the Laboratory Tests as well as the Road test. Energy Efficiency Index covers

energy efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a rat ...

of the entire vehicle, including aerodynamic drag, tyre friction or its mass. For even comparison with electric vehicles, fuel consumption is converted into kWh using

calorific value The heating value (or energy value or calorific value) of a substance, usually a fuel or food (see food energy), is the amount of heat released during the combustion of a specified amount of it. The ''calorific value'' is the total energy release ...

. Green NCAP additionally tests

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

, however they are not a part of the rating.

Life Cycle Assessment

In April 2022 Green NCAP published their first Life Cycle Assessment of 61 European cars, estimating the emissions and primary energy demand associated with the car's production, usage and recycling. They assumed a vehicle lifetime of 16 years, a total driven distance of and forecast the average energy mix of the 27 European Union member states plus the United Kingdom. Various news outlets reported on the results showing that larger electric vehicles could have life cycle emissions similar to or greater than internal combustion-engined vehicles or hybrids. However, several assumptions made by the study, and by the tool by Joanneum Research used in the study, have been criticised. These allegedly include using outdated emissions estimates on battery production, overly high production emissions for electric vehicles, and unrealistic tests for energy use. The battery production emission estimates were reviewed by Joanneum Research and could be traced back to a problem with a data interface, and clarifications on the testing procedures were provided by Green NCAP. In December 2022 Green NCAP published an interactive "Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Tool for Consumers", allowing to compare LCA values of different cars in relation to their country, energy mix and usage.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Ncap New Car Assessment Programs Consumer organisations in Belgium Green vehicles 2019 in transport