Volvo highlights REAL emissions with an emissions App

The Volvo V70 - less polluting than a Fiat 500

Volvo has released an App which allows users to see the real emissions of cars, rather than just the rather pointless CO2.

Back in July we reported that Volvo had launched a campaign to raise awareness of the real emissions from cars, rather than just the headline CO2 emissions which, thanks to the short-sighted attitude of Governments, seems to be all most motorists care about.

As far as we’re concerned the only relevance CO2 emissions should have to motorists is when it comes to working out how much they will have to give the Government in tax. We’ve called in the past for Government to concentrate on the NOx and PM emissions of cars – which are the emissions causing real damage to health and the environment – without a response.

Back in  July we looked at this year’s What Car Green Car Award winners, and the real emissions. We found that every single award winner was more polluting than a Porsche 911. And we concluded that we were fighting a losing battle because – despite the incontrovertible facts on real emissions – no Government would use mg/km of toxins as a basis for taxation because many of the worst polluting cars are the cheapest. And that just wouldn’t fill the coffers or please the public.

But  now Volvo – in conjunction with Clean Green Cars and using data supplied by the Vehicle Certification Agency – has developed an iPhone App which gives the real emissions data for cars on sale in the UK (click here for the Volvo Emissions App) and Volvo are campaigning to have this information incorporated in dealer displays.

You won’t be shocked to learn that some of Volvo’s cars perform very well on emissions (vested interest is no bar to being right). The Volvo V70 2.5, for example, has 201mg/km of toxic emissions, compared with the 1.2 litre Fiat 500 Start Stop supermini, which at 425 mg/km is more than twice as polluting as the big Volvo Estate.

There are also some interesting figures within one marque, although the general principle that diesels emit far more crap then petrols can explain much of it. Take for example the relatively compact and seemingly innocuous Mercedes B-Class B160 BlueEfficiency. With emissions of  999mg/km it is one of the worst polluting cars in the UK.

On the other hand, the much grander – and much larger – Mercedes E-Class Coupe E350 CGI emits just 122mg/km of crap, one of the best results of cars currently on sale in the UK.

We do hope Volvo gets somewhere with this. It would make our decade. Oh, and please, Volvo, spend a few bob and make an Android App too. Remember, there are more Android Smartphones being sold than iPhones (yes, another hobby-horse).

Toxic Car Emissions Data