DGT labels change in 2021

DGT environmental labels have been around for a short time but are already being questioned. It is not that they do not serve to make an efficient division of the type of vehicle we use according to its level of emissions but it is true that its classification can be adjusted somewhat better. It had already been commented previously but now the time has come to tighten the rules regarding ECO labels. Manufacturers who do not see well how to qualify, users who do not understand its usefulness or meaning ... but that will change in July 2021. Or at least, this is what the Government indicates in its Plan to promote the value chain of automotive. The Ministry of the Interior will be in charge of carrying out these updates through the General Directorate of Traffic. This body will establish an interministerial working group that will assess possible changes in consensus with all the players in the automotive sector.

This situation is given by the presence of cars with light hybridization but with a powerful engine, which receive the ECO label that allows them to circulate through traffic restriction areas without problems. The truth is that its emissions of polluting gases are higher than what is required by the regulations to have this label. Another issue is that of plug-in hybrid cars that are labeled as ZERO, although their combustion engines work normally and do not meet the requirements that electric vehicles do. On the other hand, we find cars equipped with current diesel or gasoline engines that meet the requirements of the Euro 6d standard, with emissions below 120 g / km.

These inconsistencies can be corrected by changing the labeling criteria and even creating new labels for these cars that are outside rational labeling today. The regulation of those vehicles that do not meet the required emission figures, so the classification with these environmental labels will be tightened. At the other extreme, the classification of other vehicles that do meet these criteria and that today are considered worthy of the C label would be fixed, without distinguishing the advances in technology that improve their performance and emissions. All this remains for the moment as a proposal, which will continue to be worked on and will be presented within a period of six months. Its final approval would arrive in the summer of 2021, when this new classification would become official.