Europe considers ban on performance cars -updates-

[Plex]

European politicians will be debating whether or not to ban high-powered sports cars from Europe as part of a goal to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. Members of the EU will meet in Brussels on Tuesday to decide the fate of performance cars in the region, however, Germany won�t be affected by any decision.

Of major concern are some of the quotes coming from politicians, such as these gems from the man who drafted the report on how to reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, British Liberal Democrat Chris Davies. Selling �boys� toys� that exceed the 130km/h speed limit was �nonsense� and �it�s political and environmental lunacy. People cannot drive at these speeds legally. It is just boys� toys.�

Under the proposals, Davies, wants to ban any car that travel 25% above the usual EU speed limit of 130km/h by 2013, with the exception of emergency vehicles.

Thankfully, a large contingent of the voters are German - 99 out of 785 in total according to the Financial Times - and the consensus there is that the proposal is ridiculous and would cut emissions by one percent at the most.

Motorauthority

[MG Man]

supercars are in the vast minority
to even consider them as emissinos contributors is ludicrous. Public transport in europe is the #1 emissinos violators
that is just stupid politics
_________________

I know it's so, for I told me so

[wagonrunner]

[kg494EJ-1]

^^^ Good point
_________________
War does not determine who is right, it determines who is left.

[Plex]

I would say maybe not the best move at all but if thats the EU wants then it may come into force.

[Plex]

EU confirms 120g/km CO2 emissions target for 2012

European Council members met yesterday at a meeting in Luxembourg and have voted unanimously in favor of cutting fleet average carbon-dioxide emission levels for cars sold in Europe to 120g/km by 2012.

�This sends a clear message to the car industry that current efforts to reduce emissions must continue and must be intensified and accelerated.� said EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas. Under new proposals, a reduction in CO2 emissions will be brought about by technology improvements and the higher use of biofuels.

A major problem that has arisen, however, is the fact that the rulings are unfair to most of Germany�s carmakers, which build larger and more powerful vehicles as opposed to the carmakers from France and Italy, which produce smaller and much more fuel-efficient cars.

No agreement was reached as to how to deal with this problem but the council isn�t expected to finalize the new standards until the end of the year. It will also put forward it�s own suggestions for dealing with this discrepancy between the manufacturers of large and small vehicles.

Motorauthority

[Sheriff!]

leh we hope manning eh catch the idea here 2 na!

[Plex]

I do not think that will be consider here..

[Plex]

MEP wants slower cars to curb CO2

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Cars sold in the European Union should be built so they cannot drive faster than 162 kilometres per hour to cut carbon dioxide emissions from driving, an MEP has proposed.

Chris Davies, a British member of the European Parliament, said cars should not be able to drive any faster than 25 percent above 130 km/hour -- the speed limit in most of the EU's 27 member states -- from 2013.

"Driving a car (faster than) that is against the law in every country but Germany," he said. "It's nonsense. I believe it needs to be countered."

His non-binding proposal could influence parliament's opinion ahead of new CO2 legislation for cars expected from the European Commission in the next year. Davies also recommends giving the auto industry more time to improve motor technology.

The Commission plans to propose new rules by mid-2008 to force carmakers to cut emissions from new cars to an average of 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre across the fleet by 2012 through improved engine technology.

Davies' report suggests moving that date back to 2015 but with a target of 120 g/km. It also suggests longer-term targets of 95 g/km by 2020 and 70 g/km by 2025.

EU environment ministers meeting on Thursday are expected to ask the Commission to set out CO2 targets for road vehicles for 2020 as part of the bloc's efforts to fight global warming.

Reuters

[Plex]

Porsche and Ferrari to be banned because of CO2 emission?

That the planet is in danger is not a secret anymore. And about global warming every one knows, actually every one fill it! Who�s to blame? Well, according to our distinguished Congress members the sports cars are the main reason! Is true that the CO2 emission is a problem for everyone, but from here to ban a brand is a long way to go!

Europe will be the first continent considering banning fast, powerful cars. For them a Porsche or a Ferrari, cars that produce too much CO2, are a vulgar symbols of affluence. So banning them will have two benefits: saving the planet and cutting economic inequality.

But the European Parliament goes even further: they want to prohibit every car that 162 kilometers (101 miles) an hour. That�s ridiculous! We will all have to drive Smart! Now to be serious for a moment: I am very curious to see how many of the parliament and congress members will quit their limousines and start riding a bike? How many of them will give up luxury for saving the problem. I think we all know the answer of this question!

The proposed ban would take effect in 2013. Davies told the Guardian newspaper that ``cars designed to go at stupid speeds have to be built to withstand the effects of a crash at those speeds. They are heavier than necessary, less fuel-efficient and produce too many emissions.��

So, my distinguished members of the congress lets try to find real solution to this problems. I do not say that CO2 emission is not a problem, but, for example how about those big plants and factories? How many of them are you going to ban? Especially if you own some of them?

Topspeed

[MG Man]

EU has always had some of the dumbest politicians
_________________

I know it's so, for I told me so

[Plex]

Sure right..

[Plex]

EU carmakers reject CO2 cut deadline

European automakers demanded more time on Wednesday to meet mooted CO2 emissions targets but stressed they were on board and working hard to produce cleaner cars.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association agreed with a European Commission plan to cut CO2 emmissions to 120 grams per kilometre, but by 2015 at the earliest, ACEA president Sergio Marchionne told reporters at the Frankfurt auto show.

Flanked by other European auto chiefs, Marchionne, who heads the Italian group Fiat, said the proposed deadline of 2012 was not "do-able".

He said that if EU legislation were to be adopted in 2009, "a minimum of six to seven years is appropriate before it could be enforced".

The EU commission expects to have a first draft of its new emissions rules ready in early 2008, but carmakers have already blasted the plan as unworkable in a sector subject to long product development cycles.

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and two German ministers have nontheless warned that automakers could face fines if they did not respect the EU standards.

Marchionne also said other European industries such as the energy and infrastructure sectors should join the battle to reduce greenhouse gases.

He reiterated the ACEA stance that 120 grams was a valid target, but said it depended on "full commitment by all parties on an integrated approach" based on "parameters allocated on an equitable basis" among the carmakers.

The chairman of auto parts maker Valeo said on Wednesday that his group had developed ways "to cut in half CO2 emissions" linked to propulsion, estimating they would add �1000 to �1500 ($1350 to $2000) to the average price of a car.

United front

Talking to reporters on the sidelines, Marchionne later acknowledged that the press briefing had also been held to show European carmakers were united on the issue of lowering emission levels.

Car analysts have said the Europeans were divided because Germans make a lot of big cars and would find it harder to hit the targets than companies producing smaller cars such as Fiat or French groups Peugeot and Renault.

"There is a huge perception out there that there was a difference of opinion between ourselves, the Germans, the Italians, the French. This is nonsense. The industry is absolutely united on this issue," Marchionne said.

Earlier, German auto analyst Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer said the EU commission needed to "come up with an economic system to give the customer and carmakers the right signals for climate change," pointing to taxes on higher emitting cars and an existing EU carbon emissions trading scheme as possible components.

On Tuesday, General Motors chairman and chief executive Richard Wagoner said automakers would be able to build hybrid, biofuel or other clean vehicles in the near future but had to bring costs down so that "the consumer feels like its a good value economically for them".

Of the mooted EU emissions limits Wagoner said: "I think its important that we have a feasible timeframe" to achieve the objective.

Peugeot chief executive Christian Streiff told reporters: "The issue is not technology at any price, but competitive ecology."

Toyota executive Mike Hawes told AFP Tuesday that his group, like other members of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association, planned to hit a voluntary emissions target of 140 grams by 2009.

Getting to the possible EU standard of 120-130 grams by 2012 "will be very difficult", he said.

Motoring.iafrica

[Plex]

New EU emissions proposal gets cold reception

Cars that don�t meet a European Commission-mandated target of 130g/km CO2 emission will face penalties if the proposal announced today is enacted. While this isn�t a ground-breaking concept - other industries are already being penalized for excess CO2 emissions - it is ground breaking in the sheer excess of the fines. Each gram of CO2 emissions in excess of the target will be fined at �20 (US$28.80) starting in 2012, with the fine growing to �95 ($136.83) by 2016.

If those numbers don�t sound suitably draconian, consider that exceeding the regulations by just 30g/km for a total of just 160g/km CO2 emission - the average car�s emission in Europe today according to the AFP - would cost the car makers �600 per car in 2012 and by 2016 the same car would cost the maker �2850. Doesn�t sound so bad? Multiply that by thousands or hundreds of thousands and the fines will top the billion-euro mark with ease. This point is further illustrated by the German carmakers group VDA, which points out that while the steel industry only pays �20 for each ton of CO2 emitted, the auto industry would be expected to pay �500 per ton of CO2 emitted, reports Automotive News.

Perhaps the hardest part of the proposal is not the fines or the requirement itself, but the time frame. Europe�s car makers would have just five years to reduce emissions of their entire lines by nearly 20 percent. To ask so much and give so little time with such harsh penalties for failure will mean at least two things are nearly certain: first, if the proposal passes, Europe�s cars will meet the targets with very few exceptions; and second, those cars will be very expensive.

Europeans already pay a heavy price premium for their cars, especially when compared to North Americans and Asians. This proposal will make it very difficult for EU-produced cars to compete on cost with cars produced elsewhere, both at home and abroad. And the very worst part of the plan is that it doesn�t look like it�s going to help the environment much, if at all. Reactions from environmental groups and car makers alike have been strongly negative. Greenpeace thinks the proposal �offers an open road to heavy, gas-guzzling vehicles,� while PSA/Peugeot-Citroen perhaps said it best when its spokesman said �these plans are anti-ecological, anti-social, anti-economical and anti-competitive in relation to non-EU carmakers.�

Motorauthority