1. Thessaloniki, 15 November 2012
Distribution of the annual vehicle-kilometres driven by the European passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to altitude ranges
Thessaloniki, 15 November 2012

2. Contents
Introduction
Methodology
Results and observations

3. Introduction

4. Introduction
The aim is to distribute the vehicle kilometres (veh-km) driven by passenger cars (PC) and light commercial vehicles (LCV) into various altitude classes in the EU27 Member States (MS)
The required data for the aforementioned analysis are (by MS):
Regional data, such as area, population, elevation
Total veh-km for the PC and LCV fleet, allocated to the different fuel and technology classes

5. Methodology

6. Methodology – Step 1
Each EU MS was divided into smaller regions according to the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)
For each NUTS region the population, total area, and elevation were collected via Eurostat
Since there may be considerable variations in elevation within a certain region, the elevation of the capital or biggest city of each NUTS region was considered as representative of the entire region

7. Methodology – Step 1: Example
Regional Data for Austria
nuts2
regions
population
area (km²)
capital
elevation (m)
AT11
Burgenland
284.4
3966
Eisenstadt
162
AT12
Niederösterreich
1610
19173
St. Pölten
225
AT13
Wien
1706.5
415
Vienna
171
AT21
Kärnten
558.8
9533
Klagenfurt
431
AT22
Steiermark
1209.5
16388
Graz
355
AT31
Oberösterreich
1411.9
11980
Linz
256
AT32
Salzburg
503.8
7155
453
AT33
Tirol
708.5
12648
Innsbruck
574
AT34
Vorarlberg
369.4
2601
Bregenz
772

8. Methodology – Step 2
Total PC and LCV veh-km have been distributed to the following fuel and technology classes for the years 2010, 2015 and 2020
Passenger cars
Light Commercial Vehicles
Gasoline pre-Euro 5
Gasoline Euro 5
Gasoline Euro 6
Diesel pre-Euro 5
Diesel Euro 5
Diesel Euro 6
LPG pre-Euro 5 --
LPG Euro 5
LPG Euro 6

9. Methodology – Step 2: Example
Veh-km distribution into the selected vehicle classes for Austria (year 2010)
Total activity (in Mveh-km)
Urban
Rural
Highway
Total
Share
Passenger cars
20948
26808
24057
71813
90.8%
Gasoline pre - Euro 5
8048
10300
9243
27591
34.9%
Gasoline Euro 5
996
1275
1144
3416
4.3%
Gasoline Euro 6
0.0%
Diesel pre - Euro 5
11049
14140
12689
37878
47.9%
Diesel Euro 5
854
1093
981
2929
3.7%
Diesel Euro 6
LPG pre - Euro 5
LPG Euro 5
LPG Euro 6
Light commercial vehicles
2279
2568
2388
7235
9.2%
313
353
328
993
1.3%
1966
2216
2060
6242
7.9%
TOTAL
23227
29376
26445
79048
100.0%

10. Methodology – Step 3
The following elevation classes were selected for the allocation of veh-km
Elevation Classes
< 100 m m m m m m m m
> 800 m

11. Methodology – Step 3
A normal distribution of the veh-km into the various elevation classes was assumed for each NUTS region
The mean of the normal distribution is the altitude of the capital city of each region (see Step 1)
For the estimation of standard deviation (σ) it is assumed:
For low elevations <50 m, σ = 10
Else, σ = elevation * 0.2

12. Methodology – Step 3: Example (1/3)
For estimating the probability of elevation above 800m for a certain region, the normal deviate is computed: z0 = (800 – μ) / σ , where μ is the mean of the distribution (i.e. the elevation of the capital city)
For estimating the probability of the elevation class 700–800m:
The probability of elevation above 700m is determined as above
The probability in question is the difference between the above two probabilities μ
700m
800m

13. Methodology – Step 3: Example (2/3)
The veh-km are distributed to the various NUTS regions based on the population density of each region
The percentage share of the total veh-km for a specified vehicle- and elevation class is then calculated by summing up the products of respective veh-km shares of the individual NUTS regions
nuts 2 regions
AT11
AT12
AT13
AT21
AT22
AT31
AT32
AT33
AT34 m
0.00%
0.09%
0.32%
11.29%
24.86%
> 800 m
0.01%
2.50%
42.86%
veh km shares
Passenger cars
1.36%
1.59%
78.05%
1.11%
1.40%
2.24%
1.34%
1.06%
2.70%
Gasoline pre - Euro 5
0.52%
0.61%
29.99%
0.43%
0.54%
0.86%
0.51%
0.41%
1.04%
Gasoline Euro 5
0.06%
0.08%
3.71%
0.05%
0.07%
0.11%
0.13%
Elevation Classes
Passenger cars
Gasoline pre Euro 5
Gasoline PC Euro 5 m
0.80%
0.31%
0.04%
> 800 m
1.18%
0.45%
0.06%

14. Methodology – Step 3: Example (3/3)
The distribution of total veh-km to all elevation classes for the EU27 was computed by summing up the corresponding veh-km of the individual MS
Elevation Classes
Passenger cars
Gasoline pre Euro 5
Gasoline PC Euro 5
Gasoline PC Euro 6
Diesel pre - Euro 5
Diesel PC Euro 5
Diesel PC Euro 6
LPG pre - Euro 5
LPG PC Euro 5
< 100 m
60.97%
30.23%
3.20%
0.00%
23.92%
2.56%
0.94%
0.13% m
10.72%
5.14%
0.46%
4.25%
0.39%
0.43%
0.05% m
5.42%
2.34%
0.19%
2.31%
0.24%
0.30%
0.04% m
2.76%
1.20%
0.10%
1.26%
0.12%
0.08%
0.01% m
2.33%
0.99%
1.14%
0.09%
0.03% m
1.74%
0.67%
0.91%
0.07% m
1.05%
0.40%
0.55%
0.02% m
0.44%
0.16%
> 800 m

15. Results and Conclusions

16. Results
Distribution of total EU-27 veh-km to the different altitude classes for passenger cars for the year 2010
Distribution of total EU-27 veh-km to the different altitude classes for light commercial vehicles for the year 2010

17. Results
Distribution of total EU-27 veh-km to the different altitude classes for the entire light-duty vehicle (PC and LCV) fleet for the year 2010

18. Observations
About 71% of all veh-km driven by the light duty vehicles in the EU, are allocated to low altitudes, below 100 m
This percentage share increases to about 84% for altitudes up to 200 m and to about 90% for altitudes up to 300 m
Only a small fraction of about 4% of all veh-km are driven in higher altitudes above 500 m