New green laws hit retailers

Motor retailers will need to display standardised fuel economy and CO2 emission figures for all new passenger vehicles sold from 1 July.

The new law requires that standardised fuel economy and CO2 emission figures be displayed in the windscreen of the vehicle being sold.

This initiative forms part of the local motor industry's commitment to the Department of Minerals and Energy's Energy Efficiciency Accord, which promotes energy efficiency throughout South Africa.

Tested under similar conditions

In light of this, the industry and the department of minerals and energy is introducing a standard testing and labelling system, based a European model that allows comparison between different models when tested under similar conditions.

Fuel economy is measured with the vehicle mounted on a rolling road dynamometer in a chamber under controlled atmospheric conditions. The vehicle is then "driven" through a standard combined cycle with set acceleration, idling, stops and maximum speeds of 50 km/h and 120 km/h.

The vehicle's CO2 emissions are recorded over the driving cycle, too.

Standard 95 unleaded or low sulphur diesel fuel is used in testing.

Easy to compare

The new system will allow new passenger car, SUV and MPV buyers to more readily compare different vehicles at a time with fuel efficiency and environmental concerns are extremely important when choosing a new car.

"While we are fully aware that new car fuel economy and CO2 emissions have improved dramatically during the past ten years, it has not been possible to accurately quantify this in South Africa due to the lack of a standardised fuel economy test," Stuart Rayner, chairman of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa fuels and emissions working group, said in a statement.

A database on www.naamsa.co.za will from July 2008 list all Naamsa members' passenger cars currently on sale with their respective fuel economy and CO2 figures.