Title: Feasibility of a globally harmonised Environmentally Friendly Vehicle concept

Authors: Wulf-Peter Schmidt, Stephane Morel, Klaus Ruhland, Stephan Krinke, Bianca Kunne

Addresses: Vehicle Environmental Engineering, Ford Werke GmbH, Henry Ford Str. 1, D-50725 Koeln, Germany. ' Design for Environment, Environmental Strategy Planning, Renault sas, 1 avenue du Golf, 78288 Guyancourt, France. ' Design for Environment, Mercedes-Benz Cars Development – Certification and Regulatory Affairs Environment, Daimler AG, 71059 Sindelfingen, Germany. ' Environmental Analysis Product, Volkswagen AG, Environmental Affairs Product, P.O. 011/1774, D-38436 Wolfsburg, Germany. ' Powertrain Development, Authorities and Regulations, Volkswagen AG, P.O. 011/1759, D-38436 Wolfsburg, Germany

Abstract: International conferences in the framework of the United Nations are working towards an ||Environmentally Friendly Vehicles|| (EFV) concept. However, any claim about environmental friendliness is not in line with fundamental ISO rules to avoid misleading and vague claims. Nevertheless, there is the aim to establish an information system covering the environmental performance of vehicles to support public and private purchase decisions. Different approaches to establish such an information system are evaluated by a SWOT analysis. The result is that, based on current approaches, a definition of an EFV concept is technically not feasible. However, recommendations for further work are derived.

Keywords: EFV; environmentally friendly vehicles; CO2 emissions; carbon emissions; carbon dioxide; life cycle assessment; LCA; well-to-wheel; green procurement; public procurement; SWOT analysis; information systems; environmental performance; vehicle performance; vehicle emissions; vehicle design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2010.032980

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2010 Vol.53 No.1/2, pp.4 - 15

Published online: 06 May 2010 *

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