In its ranking of the most environmentally friendly cars, the independent organization Green NCAP crowned the Dacia Spring. How serious is this distinction?
The Green NCAP organization has elected the Dacia Spring the most “Green” car in history. The small electric city car has obtained the best score ever awarded since the independent European program looks into the ecological impact of the vehicles it tests. But what is this distinction really worth? Is it even plausible?
In fact, Green NCAP is a sister organization of Euro NCAP, the benchmark in Europe for road safety. It is he who attributes the famous stars dear to brands and consumers. For several years, its “Green” branch has been interested in the ecological impact of vehicles, whether thermal, hybrid or electric. The environmental impact is analyzed in several aspects, the objective being to arrive at a final score evaluating the ecological cost of each car and to award it stars accordingly.
This year, it is therefore the Dacia Spring, one of the least expensive electric vehicles on the market, which wins the prize for the most “ecological” car. Light, not very powerful and equipped with a battery of contained size, the car of the Romanian manufacturer, under the Renault flag, indeed has arguments to make. But to go from there to making it the reference model in terms of environmental impact, there is a step that Green NCAP may take too easily.
@GreenNCAP announces 2022 winner with lowest impact on #environment ace #DaciaSpring. Light weight & equipped with electric powertrain, it achieved an overall 5-star rating outperforming the Tesla Model 3 & achieving record score in #energyefficiency ?
?https://t.co/oGyVKVdIaq pic.twitter.com/QHhzRrnEOy— GreenNCAP (@GreenNCAP) February 2, 2023
A biased and incomplete calculation method
Indeed, when we look at the test protocol used by the organization and the criteria chosen or discarded, there is reason to contest the result, or even denounce it. Green NCAP basically relies on three criteria to reach its conclusion. Each vehicle is rated according to the quantity of polluting emissions it generates, the efficiency of its engine and the energy required to manufacture the factories producing the fuel or electricity essential to its operation.
Given these criteria, electric vehicles start with a head start. That’s why they traditionally get top marks. Thus, Green NCAP explains that “ The Dacia Spring obtained an overall score of 9.9, followed by the Tesla Model 3 (9.8). The NIO ET7, the Renault Megane E-Tech and the Cupra Born received overall marks of 9.6. The Audi Q4 e-Tron and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 also had good ratings “. In the realm of the zero-emission car, there would only be good students! What would allow Dacia and its Spring to stand out would be its better performance compared to the competition and an efficiency allowed thanks to its contained weight.
But isn’t Green NCAP going a little hastily? And does he not forget some important criteria in his method of calculation? In fact, when we take a closer look at the organization’s test method, we notice the absence of parameters as important as the cost of production of the vehicle, the ecological impact of the materials used (in particular for the batteries) or its transport cost and its recyclability index. These essential criteria constitute the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment). However, such data would undoubtedly have reduced the chances of the Spring to appear at the top of the ranking, the car being, among other things, produced in China.
Scientific studies not scientific enough?
We recognize all the same in Green NCAP a certain honesty. The organization readily admits that it does not take these criteria into account: the final ACL values represent scientific estimates. Given the approximations involved and the limitations of the high-level data LCA approach, it is not currently possible to use the results to assess vehicles based on their life cycle impact. Green NCAP is therefore making the details of its life cycle analysis available for informational purposes only, with no ranking of better or worse cars. “. The reader will judge the merits of the arguments of the independent European body.
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