Euro 7, the new updated parameters

Euro 7 is a new European standard defined by European Commission on polluting and particulate emissions produced by vehicles in real driving conditions, which will replace theEuro 6 from July 1, 2027 for cars and from 1 July 2029 for trucks. The legislation was expected to come into force from July 1, 2025, but then this date was postponed by the European Parliament. The main objective is to further reduce air pollution and improve air quality, in line with the European Green Deal and the EU's zero pollution target. Fit for 55 which will ban combustion cars from 2035.

Euro 7

The new Euro 7 is more stringent on diesel engines which must respect the same limits as nitrogen oxides of petrol cars, but it concerns all types of motor vehicles, including electric cars, light and heavy commercial vehicles. In addition to limiting the emissions produced by the combustion of thermal engines, limits are also placed on the pollution caused by brakes, tyres And petrol fumes. But not only that, it imposes new limits for dangerous substances such as ammonia (NH3) responsible for smog and non-methane organic gases (NMOG) precursors of ozone, such as aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and others. Emissions can be controlled by the authorities or during revision through the new OBM system.

Euro 7 will be more stringent on emissions from engines on journeys of less than 10 km where the catalysts do not reach the operating temperatures to work correctly and with a greater number of environmental variations (temperatures, altitudes) such as high altitude up to 1,800 meters (compared to 1,300 metres), extreme heat up to +45 degrees (+35 degrees in Euro 6), violent accelerations, pulling a trailer, etc. Euro 7 also intervenes on traction batteries of electric cars by imposing a minimum guaranteed duration with a minimum SOH depending on the kilometers or years.

Euro 7 new limits on

Euro 7 exhaust emissions, NOx, PM, HC, CO and OBM

The Euro 7 regulation for cars and vans provides for emissions of 35% lower NOx compared to the previous Euro 6 regulation. On heavy vehicles the reduction must be 56%. Furthermore, particulate matter will have to be reduced, respectively, by 13% and 39%while for the braking systems a 27% cut. The cars with diesel engine will have to respect the same limits as nitrogen oxides of petrol cars, that is 60 mg/km (with Euro 6 the value was 80 mg/km).

Last trip emissions recording with the OBM

Will be introducedOn-board Monitoring (OBM), a continuous monitoring system installed directly on board the vehicle management unit ECU which has the aim of controlling and recording emissions data. L'OBM measures NOx, PM, NH3 ammonia and more in real time. This emissions data will be stored per single trip up to a maximum number of 10 results. With the police or during the vehicle review phase, via the OBD socket it will be possible to analyze all the data recorded on emissions for the last period of use. When the emission limits are exceeded, a red alert light comes on with two other colours, green if it is OK or orange if there is a problem. They are still considering the possibility that OBM could prevent the vehicle from starting if excessive and persistent emissions are detected.

* In the case of buses and trucks, the particulate emission threshold goes from 4.5 mg/km to 5 mg/km. This variation is due to the fact that the Euro 7 regulation introduces a new method of measuring particulate emissions. While Euro 6 measured particulate emissions as a total mass, the new Euro 7 method measures particulate emissions as a mass of particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5), which are particles more harmful to the environment. Health. In practice, the new emission threshold of 5 mg/km corresponds to a 20% reduction compared to the old threshold of 4.5 mg/km, if measured in total mass.

These parameters are under review and will probably be slightly modified with less stringent values ​​for NOx and particulate matter as requested by many EU countries at the European Council with this scheme:

• Less stringent reductions in emissions: Euro 7 provided for a 30% reduction in NOx emissions for cars and 15% for trucks. The new proposal provides for a reduction of 20% of NOx emissions for cars and 10% for trucks.
• Less stringent limits for particulate emissions: against Euro 7 values ​​equal to an emission limit of 2 mg/km for petrol cars and 1 mg/km for diesel cars, with the new proposal we are talking about a particulate emission limit of 2.5 mg/km for petrol cars and 1.5 mg/km for diesel cars.
• Brake emission particulates: with the new agreement the limits on braking particle emissions (PM10) for cars and vans will be 3 mg/km for pure electric vehicles, 7 mg/km for most internal combustion engine, hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles and 11 mg/km for vans.
• Tire particulates: for tires the limit should be 1 mg/km for cars and vans and 2 mg/km for buses and trucks.
• Stricter limits for buses and trucks for exhaust emissions measured in the laboratory (NOx 200 mg/kWh) and in real driving conditions (NOx 260 mg/kWh), while maintaining the current Euro VI test conditions.
• The number of exhaust particles will be measured at the PN10 level (instead of PN23, thus including the smallest particles).

Euro 7 duration and periods

All vehicles will have to comply with the new Euro 7 rules for a longer period. Compliance for cars and vans will be checked until these vehicles reach 200,000 kilometers and 10 years of age. This double the durability requirements foreseen by the Euro 6/VI regulation (100,000 kilometers and 5 years of age). Similar increases will occur for buses and trucks. This requires a longer life of emission control systems such as catalytic converters and particulate filters which must be efficient for at least 10 years or 200,000 km.

Euro 7, limits on evaporation of petrol from tanks

Euro 7 introduces new limits for petrol vapor emissions, with the aim of reducing the amount of pollutants escaping from the tank and vehicle fuel systems. Permeation losses which should be even 0.5 g/day for plastic tanks e 0.2 g/day for metal tanks. Evaporation losses during refueling 1.5 g/day while during the stop 2 days/day. To reach these limits, manufacturers will need to seal the tank using low permeability materials and install vapor emission control systems.

Limits on particulates from brakes

The limits on particulate matter produced by the brakes are more stringent on electric cars which however have fewer particulate emissions from the brakes as they mainly exploit regenerative braking using the electric motor as a brake which does not produce material generated by the friction between brake pads and discs.

Euro 7 on tire wear

Euro 7 also intervenes on the pollution experienced by the microplastics generated and in particular with the consumption and wear of tires by imposing limits on abrasion which will become the fourth characteristic to be regulated with the label after the rolling resistance, wet grip and external rolling noise. Euro 7 also requires the tire to pass certain tests during homologation not only when it is new, but also after a certain number of kilometers with years of aging behind it. This requires effort on the part of the tire manufacturer. The limits on tire particulates predicts 1 mg/km for cars and vans e 2 mg/km for buses and trucks.

Euro 7 on the battery of electric cars

The new Euro 7 also regulates the minimum battery life installed on cars and vans in order to guarantee motorists who purchase electric vehicles. With Euro 7, the performance and storage capacity of the traction batteries of electric cars will have to guarantee a minimum efficiency which varies, in terms of SOH, for cars and vans as per the table depending on the years, 5 or 8 years, and mileage between 100,000 and 160,000 km.

Euro 7 dates, when will it come into force?

For the moment, the process of the Euro 7 regulation envisages entry into force on two different dates, in 2027 for cars and vans, and in 2029 for trucks and heavy vehicles.

• July 1, 2027 cars and vans
• 1 July 2029: trucks and heavy vehicles

After the proposal, the new Euro 7 rules must be subjected to the community authorization process: it will be examined by the European Parliament and the European Council. Finally, in view of the adoption they must follow the procedure of Trilogue.

Euro 7 Italy against

L'Italy led by Meloni government is against the Euro 7 directive. Our country together with the executives of France, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia sent an official document expressing its position against the European directive. According to the eight countries, the limits of Euro 7 are excessive ambitious and unrealistic to be achieved by car manufacturers and, therefore, they risk negatively impact investments of the sector already engaged in transition to electric vehicleswith higher costs that impact end users.

Will car prices increase with Euro 7?

Euro 7 will come into force quite soon i.e. in 2025 (unless postponed for 2 years), forcing car manufacturers to carry out a real tour de force. Inevitably there will be new ones increases on price lists of cars due to the higher cost of technology dedicated to reducing emissions.

According to theAcea (European Automobile Manufacturers' Association) the increase in price lists is approximately 2 thousand euros for light vehicles up to almost 12 thousand euros. Compared to Brussels' calculations, the actual increase quadruples. In fact, the EU had estimated an increase of 180-450 euros for cars and vans and 2,800 euros for trucks and buses.

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