Skip to main content

Automotive OEMs standardise testing to comply with RDE deadlines, say researchers

Following 'dieselgate', the previously lax automobile emission testing procedures tightened and all European original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are now required to implement real driving emissions (RDE). In September, RDE testing will have a conformity factor of 2.1, which will change to 1.5 by September 2021. OEMs will be more transparent with their testing methods and results. After the implementation of RDE, adoption of World Harmonisation Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) will be simpler. The
February 15, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Following 'dieselgate', the previously lax automobile emission testing procedures tightened and all European original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are now required to implement real driving emissions (RDE). In September, RDE testing will have a conformity factor of 2.1, which will change to 1.5 by September 2021. OEMs will be more transparent with their testing methods and results. After the implementation of RDE, adoption of World Harmonisation Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) will be simpler.

The European Union is currently focused on standardising testing procedures globally. Testing procedures such as RDE, WLTP and New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) will help the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) regulate and lower emission levels for all OEMs in highly urbanised areas.

“Shifting from NEDC to RDE is a critical step as real driving conditions will have a greater impact on powertrain technologies,” said 2097 Frost & Sullivan mobility research analyst Arvind Noel Xavier Leo. “OEMs will have to look at alternative technologies as well as optimise existing technologies to meet the requirements of the RDE testing procedure.”

The research by Frost & Sullivan, Executive Analysis of Real Driving Emissions (RDE) and their Implementation, finds that the RDE phase-in and NEDC-WLTP dual testing will be implemented by 2017 in the EU, while markets such as California and China with strict emission regulations will adopt WLTP/RDE only after its implementation in Europe. Related topics in this subscription include WLTP, LED PMA policy, powertrain and EV, hybrid-electric truck and bus, and e-hailing.

One of the biggest challenges in the shift towards advanced powertrain technologies is the high costs. The shift is also a test of technical service providers' capability to adjust to the changes; service providers such as AVL, Ricardo, Continental, ICCT and Bosch have been enhancing their technologies to examine and certify OEMs' vehicles, developing low production cost technologies.

“OEMs are investing heavily in developing low production cost technologies to be implemented in their fleet. Adopting WLTP/RDE will drive improvements such as downsizing, multiple boosting systems, direct injection engines, hybridisation and exhaust systems,” noted Leo. “OEMs will look to optimize these technologies to obtain uncompromised results in RDE.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Progress of ICT transport research projects
    February 3, 2012
    Juhani Jääskeläinen, head of the ICT for Transport Unit, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission, details the results of Call 4 for research projects in ICT for transport. Since the closure of the call and evaluation process during the summer of last year the European Commission (EC) has been negotiating and signing contracts with projects which were selected from proposals submitted to Call 4 of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) fo
  • Include ITS in policy decisions from the start, not as an afterthought
    February 1, 2012
    DG TREN's Fotis Karamitsos, on why the European Commission's new ITS Action Plan is looking to the past for future direction. The European Commission's (EC's) new Action Plan for the Deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in Europe, which was announced as 2008 drew to a close, intends that transport and travel become 'cleaner; more efficient, including energy efficient; and safer and more secure'. At first sight, that wording might be interpreted as marking a significant policy shift within Europe, wit
  • Vision 2020: Car sharing drives towards new heights
    November 14, 2014
    Frost & Sullivan's is holding an online complimentary Analyst Briefing to shed light on the key factors influencing car sharing growth in cities and the market size potential. The briefing starts at 0400 GMT on 20 November. Speakers are Frost & Sullivan Industry Principal (Mobility) Martyn Briggs and Zipcar general manager (UK) Mark Walker.
  • Improving the positional accuracy of GNSS road user charging
    July 23, 2012
    The European GINA project is intended to address and overcome many of the institutional, technical and public acceptance hurdles currently faced by satellite-based road user charging schemes. Dave Tindall and Denis Naberezhnykh, TRL, and Laure Dezes, ERF, write. Pay-as-you-drive Road User Charging (RUC), whereby demand (or congestion) is managed by applying appropriate tariffs in order to encourage drivers to make their journeys at less busy times, on less congested routes or even on different modes, could