UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29): Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE)

The World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE) is responsible for the development and worldwide harmonisation of technical standards for motor vehicles. The FOEN is actively involved in the Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) UNECE WP.29. From 2011 to 2013 it chaired a working group that developed a new globally harmonised test procedure for passenger cars.

The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), by means of which emissions of CO2 and other air pollutants from the exhausts of new motor vehicles were tested, and which was also of relevance in Switzerland, no longer corresponded to present-day reality. This meant that the fuel consumption of motor vehicles and the levels of CO2 emissions had been greatly underestimated in comparison with real driving behaviour.

The EU therefore worked closely together with other countries (Japan, USA, India, China) to develop a new globally harmonised testing cycle that has replaced the existing NEDC from 2017 on.

Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP)

The Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE), which was created by the World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) - a unit of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) - has commenced work on the further development of the test procedure for light vehicles. Here, from the beginning of 2011 until the end of 2013, the FOEN assumed the chairmanship of an important body, namely the Sub-group on the Development of the Test Procedure (DTP) within WLTP.

The WLTP was comprised of specialists from industry, science and government, who had been developing a test procedure for emissions of CO2 and other pollutants from passenger cars, together with the corresponding regulations. The resulting procedure was then being subjected to a test phase for the purpose of verifying whether it functioned in practice.

The EU has introduced the new test procedure together with the Euro 6c emissions standard from 2017 on.

Within the WLTP working group, the FOEN also advocated stricter cold start regulations that are appropriate for Swiss conditions with regard to cold temperatures. With the help of FOEN, including in the form of chairing the WLTP Sub Group on Electrified Vehicle (SG EV) in the final phase, a new harmonized test procedure for the measurement of cold start emissions (at -7 °C) within the WLTP test procedure was developed, which was adopted within the UNECE in June 2020. It takes into account all relevant air pollutants and applies to all vehicles (including hybrids). This harmonized procedure can now be included, for example, by the European Commission in the new EURO 7 emissions standard, which will then also apply to Switzerland.

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Last modification 20.04.2021

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