Cycle Beating and the EU Test Cycle for Cars

All cars sold in the EU have to comply with a series of European standards. The tests for these standards range from road worthiness and crash tests to exhaust emission tests. These test are carried out on each ”type” of car, hence their collective name : type approval tests. The emission test allows manufacturers to design cars to pass the test rather than have low pollution levels on the road. This report outlines how the current test is flawed and provides a way to address the problem.

Tests carried out by the Swedish exhaust emission laboratory of Rototest AB reveal that some manufacturers do not take responsibility for the exhaust performance of all or some of their models in situations when the car is driven under conditions not covered by the official European test cycle. This kind of “cycle beating” results in high emissions of carbon monoxide (CO),hydrocarbons (HC) and ammonia (NH₃).

The risk of cycle-beating has been recognised by the European Union where heavy duty vehicles are concerned. The proposal for a new directive includes an amendment to the present 13-mode cycle with the effect that the relevant authorities are allowed to measure emissions in some randomly chosen points. This report explains why such a supplement should be used in connection with the test cycle for cars, and it outlines how this could be achieved.