1. UNECE Joint Task Force on Environmental Indicators Item 3 (f) Average Age of Road Motor Vehicle Fleet

2. Importance of age of vehicle fleet According to the EEA, road transport is responsible for 17.5 % of overall greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and its emissions increased by 23 % between 1990 and 2009. The age of a road motor vehicle has an impact on the amounts of the various types of emission. According to the EEA, average CO2 emissions for new cars registered in 2011 were 3.3% less than new cars registered in 2010. See http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/transport

3. UK Experience Road transport accounts for 19% of UK green house gas emissions. Estimate of how emissions of different gases per km vary depend on vehicle speed for different vehicle types/ fuel type/ year of first registration (used as a proxy for Euro emissions class)/ engine size/ etc http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/energy- and-environment/climatechangefactsheets.pdf

4. Regulatory Changes To help achieve reductions in transport emissions, strict targets have been introduced in the European Union and other major economies for vehicle fuel efficiency. Manufacturers are committed to achieving in a definite programme over time specific and gradually tighter fuel consumption levels for the new vehicles they produce The size and importance of these economies has implication for all world vehicle manufacturers

5. Technical Advances Motor manufacturers have responded by improving the efficiency of vehicle engines and the aerodynamics of the vehicle to reduce fuel consumption.

6. Implications Each generation of vehicles is more fuel efficient and emits fewer emissions than earlier vehicles. The average age of the vehicle fleet in a country is therefore a helpful indicator of the level of emissions created by that country’s vehicles

7. Definitions Vehicle fleet Age of vehicle

8. Vehicle fleet All motor vehicles licensed to operate on a country’s roads at a given date – Passenger cars – Motor coach, bus or trolleybus – Truck – Road tractor

9. Vehicle Register Date of first registration Countries maintain registers of vehicles licensed to operate on their roads for – Police – Taxation It is important for this indicator that these registers contain the date when the vehicle was first licensed for use This date of first registration is normally the date to be used to calculate the age of the vehicle

10. Problem Used vehicles from abroad The date of first registration in the country accepting foreign used vehicles will not properly reflect the date of manufacture or of first use It will therefore underestimate the age of the vehicle and its emissions performance

11. Date of first registration This should be the earliest date of first registration of the vehicle in any country in which it has been registered. The Harmonised Registration Certificate records this information for foreign second hand cards for all EU countries.

12. Example A Mercedes was registered in Austria with Austrian number plates for the first time in 2008 In 2012, it was exported to Albania where it was reregistered and given Albanian number plates. Two dates of first registration – 2008 Austria First country registration – 2012 Albania Second country registration Chose the earliest i.e. 2008 if known or, if this is available, from the harmonised registration certificate

13. First country registration not known Adjust the date of first registration by some factor

14. Provision of statistics For every year’s data to be provided, a copy of the vehicle register is needed as it stood on a specific fixed date within the year e.g. – 1 January – 31 December – 30 June Which of these is appropriate depends on the arrangements with the keeper of the register.

15. Age distribution (1) For each vehicle on the vehicle register – Determine its age from the date of first registration – Allocate each vehicle among the age groups Age <= 2 years 2 years< age <= 5 years 5 years< age <= 10 years Age > 10 years

16. Age distribution (2) Compile the totals for each age group and calculate the percentage each group represents of the total This allows the calculation of an average age for the vehicle fleet

17. Thank you