How the new Euro7 emission standard affects your diesel car

The vehicle of the future will be green or it will not be. Or at least this is the roadmap that marks the great climate project launched by the European Commission and with which it intends to put an end to the sale of combustion cars in 2035 and whose ultimate goal is to achieve the long- awaited neutral carbon footprint in 2050. This is what is known as the Euro7 regulation… and it fully threatens your diesel car.

The Euro7 cycle will not leave many maneuvers

How the new Euro7 emission standard affects your diesel car

In plans of many brands, by 2026, there is a range of models in which electrification is the protagonist, leaving combustion variants relegated. Really, why is this change in trend being adopted?

Logically, so that we have a more sustainable mobility, but, also, because the Euro7 regulations, the theoretical future emission standardization cycle, still pending approval that would come into force in 2026, do not leave much room for manoeuvre.

A difficulty of these changes that this standard focuses on the emissions of harmful gases, such as NOx (nitrogen oxides, which are not exclusive to diesel), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons, as well like fine particles. Thus, manufacturers, especially those that still have diesel cars in their hands, will have to comply with this standard to homologate their new vehicles with combustion engines .

What is happening

The need for another Euro emissions standard for cars and vans is obvious. Road transport remains the main source of toxic NO2 emissions, and air pollution is particularly severe in traffic-congested cities, as many EU cities continue to exceed the WHO Air Quality Guidelines. .

Air pollution from road transport causes a wide range of health problems, including airway inflammation, increased asthma attacks and premature deaths, disproportionately affecting vulnerable people.

This is where Euro7 is of special interest, above all because this regulation aims to reduce between 50 and 90% in relation to current levels. In the same way, it will also remove pollutants that were previously tolerated, such as methane, nitrous oxide or ammonia, the latter present in the SCR catalytic filters of diesels with Adblue.

Nueva normativa emisiones euro7

In any case, for a car to be homologated, it will have to comply with the emission limits established in any circumstance and not only at the time of its homologation or possible ITV. This means that new cars will have to have an integrated self-diagnosis system that will analyze emissions at all times.

Goals up to 10 times harder are foreseen

The problem, however, is that manufacturers are wary of the Euro 7 standard until even greater investment is made in plans to electrify streets and highways: without a growing network of electric vehicle charging points, it seems difficult to comply with all the goals and regulations that are expected to be up to 10 times more severe .

In any case, currently, the Euro 7 proposal is still under development and, therefore, there is still no final proposal on the new tests and emission limits that are going to be established.

Finally, it should be noted that this regulation affects all vehicles equipped with gasoline and diesel internal combustion engines, so it also includes new low-emission and zero-emission technologies, such as hybrids. These are HEVs, PHEVs, natural gas, LPG, hydrogen, biofuels, and synthetic fuels.