Emission behavior of SUV — Sport Utility Vehicles

For years, new registrations of SUVs and off-road vehicles have been increasing sharply. The higher vehicle weight compared to passenger cars requires the use of stronger motorisation, which has an impact on emissions behaviour. Due to the now significant fleet share, a study was carried out to assess the emission behaviour of SUVs under real driving conditions. Measurement data of six SUVs in the emission classes EURO 3 and EURO 4 show that compared to conventional passenger cars there are significantly higher consumption values and thus higher CO2 emissions. In the case of air pollutants, NOx emissions from diesel-powered SUVs are particularly relevant. These NOx emissions — and especially the NO2 share — are at higher speeds in motorway traffic at or above the level of modern EURO 5 semi-trailers.