Intro

The monitoring of the real-world emissions of passenger cars and vans is based on Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2019/631. It aims to ensure that the CO₂ emissions of vehicles determined during laboratory testing remain representative of real-world emissions of vehicles in circulation. The procedures for collecting and reporting the real-world data from on-board fuel consumption monitors and for comparing it with the corresponding laboratory World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) data are set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/392.

The figures and tables under the “Data” tab show the main results of this monitoring exercise for the first two reporting years. They are based on the data collected by manufacturers in 2021 and 2022, and reported by manufacturers in 2022 and 2023, covering new vehicles first registered in the EU in 2021 or 2022.

The “real-world gap” mentioned below refers to the difference between the average real-world and the average WLTP based values for a given set of vehicles.

What the data recorded in 2022 are telling us for vehicles registered in 2021

• Data coverage has improved compared to the first reporting year (2021): data was reported from 26.7% of the cars registered and 2.0% of the vans (2021 reporting: 10.6% of cars and 1.0% of vans).
• The data show an average real-world gap of 19.8% (1.2 l/100km or 28 g CO₂/km) for petrol cars and 18.2% (1.1 l/100km or 28 g CO₂/km) for diesel cars, giving a combined average gap of 19.2%.
• The data is based on a more representative vehicle sample, with higher mileage, compared to the previous year (2021, first year when the vehicles were on the road), when the gap found was 23.7% for petrol cars and 18.1% for diesel cars.
• For plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the data shows an average real-world gap of 239% (4,2 l/100km or 95,9 g CO₂/km) for petrol vehicles and 317% (4,5 l/100km or 117 g CO₂/km) for diesel vehicles. This confirms that these vehicles are currently not realising their potential, largely because they continue to not be charged and driven electrically as frequently as anticipated by the utility factor calculation.

What the data recorded in 2022 are telling us for vehicles first registered in 2022

• The data show an average real-world gap of 21.1% (1.3 l/100km or 29 g CO₂/km) for petrol cars and 17.1% (1.0 l/100 km or 26 g CO₂/km) for diesel cars, giving a combined gap of 19.6%.
• For vans, the sample data remains insufficient to draw conclusions. In the sample of 85,000 diesel vans first registered in 2022 (representing 9% of total 2022 registrations for this category), a preliminary real-world gap of around 13% was found.
• For plug-in hybrid vehicles, the data shows an average real-world gap of 306% (4,3 l/100km or 98 gCO2/km) for petrol vehicles and 348% (4,7 l/100km or 123 g CO₂/km) for diesel vehicles. This means that in absolute terms the gap is similar to the findings for vehicles first registered in 2021, but has grown significantly in percentage terms.
• As plug-in hybrid vehicles first registered in 2022 have larger batteries and a higher electric range than those registered in 2021, their official CO₂ emission values are lower as more electric driving is assumed when calculating the test results.
• This data suggests however that the increased range has so far not resulted in a similar higher share of electric driving on the road.