Europe's approach to measuring vehicle emissions is facing renewed scrutiny after researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) called for a fundamental revision of EU carbon dioxide regulations.

Their analysis suggests that current standards overlook significant emissions generated during vehicle manufacturing, electricity production and recycling. The findings raise questions about whether existing rules accurately reflect the environmental impact of different automotive technologies.

Why Current EU Rules Face Criticism

Under EU Regulation 2019/631, manufacturers are assessed primarily on carbon dioxide emissions produced directly by vehicles during operation.

Battery-electric cars produce no exhaust emissions and are therefore treated as zero-emission vehicles for compliance purposes. However, manufacturing batteries, producing electricity and processing materials can generate substantial emissions that remain outside this calculation.

Researchers argue that focusing exclusively on exhaust emissions creates an incomplete picture of a vehicle's environmental performance. The study recommends replacing this narrow approach with a broader assessment covering production, operation and end-of-life processing.

What The Research Reveals About Electric Cars

The researchers examined 19 existing studies covering 47 modelled scenarios to compare battery-electric vehicles with conventional combustion-engine cars.

Their analysis found that electric vehicles generated approximately 41% fewer carbon dioxide emissions on average throughout their entire life cycle.

Electric models performed better in around 92% of the scenarios examined. However, results varied considerably depending on manufacturing processes, electricity sources and operating conditions.

The estimated differences ranged from an 89% reduction in emissions to a 21% increase compared with combustion vehicles. These findings suggest that electric cars generally provide environmental benefits, although their advantages depend on how they are manufactured and powered.

Why Manufacturing Matters

Producing an electric vehicle requires energy-intensive processes, particularly during battery manufacturing and raw material extraction.

The electricity used to charge vehicles also influences their environmental performance. An electric car operating on renewable electricity can have a substantially smaller carbon footprint than one relying on electricity generated from fossil fuels.

Researchers therefore recommend measuring emissions throughout the complete vehicle life cycle.

This approach would also recognise improvements in manufacturing efficiency, recycled materials and lower-emission industrial processes.

Europe Could Miss Its Emissions Target

The study raises concerns about the pace of emissions reductions across Europe's passenger car fleet. According to projections cited by the researchers, the EU could fall more than 100 million tonnes short of its intended reduction of 188 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030.

One major challenge is that combustion-engine vehicles could still represent approximately 78% of the passenger car fleet that year.

Consequently, improvements affecting existing vehicles and manufacturing processes could remain important alongside the expansion of electric mobility.

What Changes Are Researchers Proposing?

The Munich team recommends introducing mandatory, independently verified life-cycle emissions reporting for passenger cars.

Such a system would account for emissions associated with materials, manufacturing, energy consumption and recycling.

Researchers believe this could encourage companies to reduce fossil-based emissions throughout vehicle production rather than concentrating exclusively on exhaust measurements.

The proposals arrive as European institutions consider revisions to automotive emissions standards. However, introducing comprehensive life-cycle accounting would require reliable data and consistent measurement methods across manufacturers.

For Europe's automotive industry, the research highlights the importance of assessing environmental performance across the entire vehicle lifespan. Future regulations could increasingly consider how cars are built, powered and recycled alongside the emissions they produce on the road.