For years, the CO2 emissions from Europe's new cars rose. In 2020 the trend seems to be broken.
Europe's new cars have become more economical for the first time since 2016. Last year, the average CO2 emissions per newly registered car was 107,8 grams per kilometer, as reported by the European Environment Agency (EEA). This corresponds to a decrease of 14,5 grams or 12 percent compared to 2019. The greenhouse gas emissions from light commercial vehicles also fell by 2,3 grams to 157,7 grams. New registrations in the EU, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom were taken into account.
One of the reasons for the lower emissions is the increasing share of electric vehicles in new registrations. For passenger cars, it rose from 3,5 percent to 11 percent, and for commercial vehicles from 1,4 to 2,3 percent. In terms of CO2 emissions, at least for cars, Germany is well above the European average: in 2020, according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), the average new car emitted 139,8 grams per kilometer; this year it is 126 grams.