With fuel vapors and brake dust: How the new method for calculating car pollution and taxation will work
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has published principles for changing the method of calculating vehicle emission coefficients, which determine purchase tax. The new formula, effective January, will address four types of emissions: hot, cold, wear, and evaporation. The change may raise prices for plug-in hybrids and affect electric vehicles, but the exact ratios have not yet been published.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has published guiding principles for changing the method of calculating vehicle emission coefficients, which determine purchase tax. The new formula will take effect this January, after a decade of the current formula being in effect. The change is significant: instead of five pollutants, the formula will address four types of emissions – hot, cold, wear, and evaporation. Hot emissions are measured when the engine is warm, cold emissions from startup until warm-up, wear emissions from tire and brake wear, and evaporation emissions from fuel vapors. The change is expected to harm plug-in hybrid vehicles with a small electric range, as their gasoline engine operates when cold and pollutes more. Electric vehicles may also be affected by wear emissions due to their weight. However, the exact ratios between pollutants have not yet been published, so it is unclear who will be precisely affected. The formula is based on the European COPERT model, adapted to Euro 7 standards. Car importers may raise prices, but competition in the market, especially from Chinese manufacturers, may curb increases.