Cleaner vehicles make the grade A European project has developed a methodology that gives cars a 'green grade'. The rating system allocates clean vehicles high marks through the help of a decision support tool. Climate Change and Environment © Shutterstock Emissions released from car exhaust have an environmental cost, particularly in large cities with heavy traffic flow. The aim of the EU-funded Cleaner-drive project was to bring down the barriers to the introduction of cleaner vehicles by using the market influence of national programmes and making the most of key player influences in the arena. An integral part of the plan was to devise a vehicle environmental rating system which gives a high score to cleaner vehicles and technologies. The use of this system was piloted via a web-based tool. All of the major sources of emissions were taken into consideration, such as tailpipe emissions and the production of fuel itself. The scores ranged from one to one hundred with the higher numbers indicating the cleaner the car. The major achievement of the project was the vehicle decision support tool which is able to cut transport costs and lessen vehicle emissions. A second version of the tool has been implemented and both long and short-term vision for a maintenance plan is foreseeable.
