Friday, July 2nd, 2021
New label with no efficiency class
Climate traffic lights for new cars will be abolished
So far, a traffic light system has informed car buyers about fuel consumption. The Ministry of Economic Affairs now wants to abolish this and instead provide information depending on the type of drive. Environmentalists believe that it will then be difficult for consumers to compare models.
A new label is intended to replace the previous efficiency class labeling for the consumption of cars. This emerges from the draft of a new regulation from the Federal Ministry of Economics. The ministry confirmed that a new car label without efficiency classes was planned and that this decision had been made in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Federal Environment Ministry. Accordingly, the future label should provide consumers with information, depending on the type of drive, instead of the usual efficiency classes – green to red / A + to G – such as the respective energy consumption and the costs incurred for the vehicle tax.
According to the draft, five label formats are planned: two for combustion engines – gasoline / diesel and natural gas – and one each for battery-electric cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. “Instead of ultimately arbitrarily determined efficiency classes to a certain extent, the planned new label objectively offers significantly more and more detailed individual information about the vehicle for customers,” says the Ministry of Economics about the planned new labeling.
Environmental Aid: Buyers find it difficult to compare
Deutsche Umwelthilfe, on the other hand, criticizes, according to “Spiegel”, that consumers should be dispensed with well-known and easily comprehensible information. Car buyers would find it difficult to compare the pure numerical values for energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The previous efficiency classes have already been criticized because they depend on the weight of the vehicle. An SUV, for example, could also get a relatively good label.
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the change in the label is due to a modified test procedure by the European Union for assessing fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and power consumption of new vehicle types. Before the new label can come into force, it still has to be passed in the federal cabinet. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, this is expected to be the case in September.
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