[volkman10]

Green NCAP is an independent initiative which promotes the development of cars which are clean, energy efficient and not harmful to the environment.

The highest standard is attributed to a car that maximises the reduction of its own pollutants and greenhouse gases and, at the same time, operates at minimised fossil fuel consumption and/or maximized energy efficiency under real-world conditions.

GREEN NCAP REWARDS MANUFACTURERS WHOSE VEHICLES GO BEYOND THE MINIMUM LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND OFFER EXCELLENT REAL-WORLD PERFORMANCE.

Green NCAP’s tests currently involve the measurement of gaseous emissions in a range of different test environments, both in the laboratory and on the road. The tests therefore consider only the emissions generated by the vehicle once it is on the road. This is known as ‘tank to wheel’ assessment.

However, on a global scale, other factors are important too. For petrol and diesel engines, the energy expended in extracting the fuel and delivering it to the point of sale is important; for electric vehicles, the energy ‘mix’ of the electricity used for charging the car is important – good if comes from renewable energy; bad if it comes from fossil fuels like coal. This measure of emissions is known as ‘well to wheel’. Ultimately, all of the energy that goes into producing the car in the first place should also be considered – a whole ‘life-cycle’ assessment. This is Green NCAP’s ultimate aim: to be able to inform consumers which vehicles are the least damaging to produce, operate and, at the end of their useful lives, to destruct and recycle. However, at the start, Green NCAP will focus on ‘tank to wheel’ emissions

However, at the start, Green NCAP will focus on ‘tank to wheel’ emissions.



Star Rating

This is the highest and simplest level at which cars can be compared. It is a single, overall rating that summarises a vehicle’s performance in Clean Air and Energy Efficiency. The higher the star rating, the better the car has performed. Since the star rating indicates the poorer performance in the two areas of assessment, cars with a high star rating have performed well in both; those with a poor rating may have performed well in one but have done badly in another. This prevents that performance in one area is optimised to the detriment of the other.

Typical Green NCAP report, ( EV)









Our verdict:

BMW has used weight-saving carbon-fibre technology to keep the i3 at a trim 1270kg, although its 75kW electric motor and battery pack limits the weight-loss that can be achieved. Electric motors deliver a high torque, so despite its modest power, the i3 has a hefty 250Nm of torque. Local pollutant emissions are zero, of course, as no fuel is burned during the tests, and the i3 scores a maximum 10 in the Clean Air Index.

Energy Efficiency is also very good, with consumption not exceeding 20kWh/100km in any of the tests.

In an additional test, performed for information only, consumption was as low as 10.2kWh/100km with the car in “ECO PRO +” mode, in which its maximum speed is limited to 90km/h. Of course, emissions of carbon dioxide are zero. Overall, the i3 demonstrates that full electric propulsion currently offers the greenest mode of transport around.

Typical Green NCAP report ( fossil fueled vehicle)













VOLVO XC40 ( fossil fuel)











Our verdict:

Volvo’s small off-roader, the XC40, is tested here as the T5 variant, with a two-litre petrol engine and automatic gearbox.

The car has a three-way catalyst and a gasoline particulate filter, and these help it achieve a Clean Air Index of 6.8. In the lab tests, pollutant emissions are generally well controlled but the high-load highway test results in poor control of particulate number, limiting the car’s Clean Air Index.

However, the star rating is determined by the car’s performance in Energy Efficiency and, here, it achieves an index of only 2.3. Energy efficiency is marginal in most of the lab tests and poor in the high-load cycle. Overall, the car achieves reasonable control of pollutant emissions but is let down by its poor energy efficiency.

Source:

[volkman10]

Second batch of results for Green NACAP tests released:

The second-generation LEAF, the third electric vehicle tested by Green NCAP, achieved the full five green stars.

In recent years, diesel has been stigmatised as a dirty fuel but the Mercedes C220d 4MATIC shows it needn’t be. The C220d 4MATIC scored maximum points for the Clean Air Index, the same as electric vehicles. While electric vehicles produce no pollutant emissions, those of the Mercedes were below Green NCAP’s ‘high-performance’ threshold, meaning that it scored maximum points. The car’s three-star rating was defined by its performance in Energy Efficiency, less impressive than that in Clean Air, but still a reasonable rating for such a car. It is clear that new diesel-engined cars, with proper calibration and effective after-treatment, can deliver extremely low pollutant emissions.

Green NCAP, the consumer programme for greener cars, launches its second round of results today. Five cars have been rated on their performance for clean air and energy efficiency. The Mercedes-Benz C220d 4MATIC and the Renault Scenic dCi 150, both diesel cars, achieve three stars apiece; the Audi A4 Avant g-tron, the first CNG car assessed, also gets three stars; the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa gets a creditable four stars in its 1.0 litre petrol form; and the Nissan LEAF, the only pure electric vehicle in this release, achieves the full five stars.

Source:NCAP

[racer_ash]

The ranking seems to ignore one of the most important contributors of green-house emissions for automobiles and that is the emissions during the set up and manufacture of the cars.

Environmental damage due to clearing the land to set up the huge factories, the emissions due to manufacture of equipment installed in the factory, the fuel burned to power the equipment, the harmful chemicals used and released during manufacture, the damage done to the environment due to disposal of used fluids, oils etc.

Associating the colour Green to automobiles is frankly a misnomer IMHO

[volkman10]

Green NCAP's latest results: FIAT flounders. Škoda and SEAT go greener.

Green NCAP releases its third and final round of the year, with three cars being rated in Green NCAP’s wide range of laboratory and road tests.




The Arona, SEAT’s mini crossover, gets 4 stars in its 1.5 TSI form.
Škoda’s large family car, the Octavia TDI DSG, scores 3 stars
FIAT’s Panda in CNG mode achieves only two stars.

Seat Arona:

The SEAT Arona, a small petrol SUV, is the champ of this batch and scores nearly full marks for Clean Air, with an index of 9.8 out of 10. But with an Energy Efficiency Index of 6.1, the Arona’s overall rating is limited to four stars. All tests were adequate except for the high-load highway assessment, where it drops to marginal and so misses out on the fifth star. All in all, a strong performer in Green NCAP’s tests.

Skoda Octavia:

The third-generation Škoda Octavia is tested here with the 110 kW, 2.0 diesel engine. With exhaust gas recirculation, selective catalyst reduction and a diesel particulate filter, control of pollutant emissions, especially hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulates (PN), is good. For Clean Air, the car is let down only by its emissions of oxides of Nitrogen (NOₓ). Adequate in most tests, marginal in the cold-start test, control of NOₓ is poor in the high-load highway test, with emissions so high that the car fails to score any points in this part of the assessment. This largely contributes to its modest 6.7 for the Clean Air Index. Its Energy Efficiency is also at the three-star level, with adequate performance in most tests and marginal performance in the high-load test. Values of CO₂ very close to its declared value of 139 g/km were recorded in all tests except the high-load assessment. Overall, an average performer, with room for improvement in control of NOₓ emissions.

Fiat Panda:

The Panda, tested previously by Green NCAP in its Euro 6b petrol form, is assessed here as the Euro 6d-temp CNG/petrol bi-fuel variant. The car has a 12 kg CNG tank and a 35 litre fuel tank, meaning that it will spend much of its time being driven on petrol, in addition to its compressed natural gas (CNG) ‘primary’ fuel. When running on gas, pollutant emissions are generally well controlled. However, when the vehicle is run on petrol, and with no gas particulate filter, emissions of particulates are extremely high, over twenty times higher than CNG mode in the case of the cold test. Even in CNG mode, hydrocarbon emissions are above Green NCAP’s poor-performance limit in the high-load test. As a consequence, the Clean Air Index is a modest 5.5, limiting the overall rating to two stars. Energy efficiency is marginal, especially in the high load test, and the average fuel consumption in gas mode is 4.2 kg/100 km. FIAT expect the car to be used predominantly in gas-mode. However, the relative sizes of the CNG and petrol tank invites drivers to use both fuel modes, while FIAT has optimised the car only for one.

Source:Green NCAP

[volkman10]

New Green NCAP results:

- The two electric cars tested in this round – the Hyundai KONA and Renault ZOE – both achieve a maximum five-star rating

-At the other end of the scale, the large people-carriers – VW Transporter, Mercedes-Benz V-Class and Opel Zafira – get no better than one and a half stars, mainly because of their weight and poorer aerodynamics.

Going forward, Green NCAP plans to further extend its analysis from ‘tank to wheel’ to ‘well to wheel’ and take account of the ‘upstream’ emissions involved in the manufacture of fuels or in the generation of electricity. For the time being, the Green NCAP’s 2020 ratings are still based on ‘tank to wheel’ even though the recent update to the methodology and inclusion of new measurements means that the ratings are significantly different to those published in 2019 and should not be compared.

Source: Green NCAP

[volkman10]

Green NCAP's latest (2021) results:









Source: Green NCAP

[volkman10]

2022:

Green NCAP publishes the results of six vehicles under its updated and improved rating scheme of 2022.

Audi takes home five stars for its all-electric sportback, the Q4 e-tron, while the 48V-mild-hybrid Hyundai BAYON, the Renault Kangoo TCe 130 and the VW Caddy 1.5 l TSI all earn 2.5 stars. The Peugeot 308 1.2 l PureTech receives two stars and the Genesis GV70, with its 2.5 l petrol engine, only achieves one star.

In 2022, the Green NCAP rating criteria received an update. As powertrain technologies improve and the car market moves rapidly towards electrification, test protocols and rating scheme have been adjusted to better suit the rapidly evolving technology and sustainability trends.

Until today our assessments covered tank-to-wheel evaluation only. Cars obtained a star rating based on their emissions and efficiency performance from charging point or fuel pump to performance they delivered on the road”, says Technical Manager Aleksandar Damyanov. "Green NCAP’s new rating covers a Well-to-Wheel+ greenhouse gas assessment, signifying a much broader approach.”

This means that the greenhouse gas emissions related to the extraction, production and distribution of energy from the source (“well”) are added to the measured tailpipe emissions (“wheel”). The “+” signalises that the construction of powerplants and refineries is also considered, but not yet the vehicle and battery production itself. As before, the rating combines the results of real-world on-road tests and different laboratory roller-bench investigations, however, cars are now subjected to a two-stage testing process. Vehicles which have scored well on the basis of tests in the first stage qualify for additional testing in the second stage to prove the robustness of their performance under more challenging conditions.

In the first batch of 2022, only the Audi Q4 e-tron qualified for the additional robustness testing. This large SUV scores well in all three parts of the assessment – Clean Air, Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gases – as it is a fully electric vehicle with zero emissions at the tailpipe and a high efficiency powertrain, assumed to be charged with the average European electricity mix as forecasted for the next 16 years. The Q4 only loses a fraction of points in the cold ambient and highway tests.














Source: Green NCAP

[greenhorn]

Short sighted and consumerist greenwashing imo. As someone who cares for the environment, I'd also be interested in the repairability, reusability, how the raw materials are sourced and renewable the manufacturing is.

[volkman10]

Latest ratings of cars assessed in August.

CUPRA Born does not only address road safety but earns the complete set of five Green Stars.




Link

[volkman10]

Tesla, NIO and Renault: Top results in Green NCAP rating.

Green NCAP publishes the results of three very competitive electric vehicles; the Tesla Model 3, the new-to-market NIO eT7 and the Renault Megane E-Tech 100% electric. All vehicles received an impressive five stars under the Green NCAP sustainable rating scheme, achieving nearly maximum scores due to the high energy efficiency of their electric powertrains, far exceeding the ratings of conventional cars.

The Renault Megane E-Tech fully demonstrates, like Tesla’s Model 3 and NIO’s eT7, excellent performance and collects 9.6 out of 10 points in the Weighted Overall Index and a well-deserved 5 Green stars.



Earlier tested Dacia Spring Vs. Tesla Model 3. Dacia Spring still is the most efficient EV



Source: Green NCAP

[volkman10]

Green NCAP’s Best Car of 2022: Dacia Spring


Green NCAP announces that the overall winner of 2022 – the car with the lowest impact on the environment – is the Dacia Spring.
Equipped with an electric powertrain, the Spring achieved an overall five-star rating and outperformed other electric vehicles such as the Tesla Model 3 and the Cupra Born.

Also Green NCAP is releasing its latest set of results that include three petrol-fuelled cars: the Kia Picanto (a 3-star rating), the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer (2½-star rating) and the VW Touran (a 2-star rating) as well as the diesel-fuelled car the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka (a 3-star rating).

The Dacia Spring, like other electric vehicles, scored maximum results in the Clean Air Index, but also achieved Green NCAP’s highest result in the Greenhouse Gas Index and a never-before-seen 9.8 in the Energy Efficiency Index. Due to its pure electric powertrain and light weight, Dacia’s compact city car receives full points in three out of four tests, with energy consumption lower than Green NCAP’s maximum-points threshold. 89% of the energy withdrawn from the electrical grid is available at the output side of the battery, indicating an efficient charging and discharging process. The test results prove the Spring to be an environmentally friendly car, not only due to the absence of local pollutant emissions but also because of its low energy consumption.

The Dacia Spring received an overall score of 9.9, followed by Tesla Model 3 (overall score 9.8). The NIO eT7, the Renault Megane E-Tech and Cupra Born achieved overall scores of 9.6. The Audi Q4 e-Tron and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 were also five-star performers. However, it was the cars’ energy efficiency results which made the critical difference to a vehicle’s overall score. In contrast to the Dacia Spring, these cars did not present consumption values low enough in this Index to receive top results. The IONIQ 5, for example, received a 9.1 in the Energy Efficiency Index, which in consequence lowered the overall score of the car.

Jan 2023 Green NCAP Results:



Source: Gree NCAP