Diesel Land Rover SUV better for the environment than a Renault Clio
AIR Index finds SUV largely perceived as ‘dirty’ actually emits less harmful pollutants than one of the most popular superminis on the market
A diesel Land Rover Discovery would be one of the last cars to come to mind when it comes to environmentally-friendly machines — but it could actually be better for the planet than many small family run-arounds, according to new research.
The newly-launched AIR Index is an independent test of a car’s real-word pollutants in city and town driving and six cars – from a large SUV right down to the dinky Clio – were tested to kick it off.
Performing best of those was a 2018 Land Rover Discovery 3.0 TD6 — a car that is often perceived as a ‘dirty diesel’, alongside many other black-pump SUVs. The Discovery achieved an ‘A’ rating in this new test, meaning it emits up to 80mg/km of NOx in real-world driving. In contrast, a 2017 Renault Clio 1.5 DCI received a ‘E’ grade — said to emit in excess of 600mg/km of NOx.
Current Euro6 emissions regulations set a limit of 60mg/km of NOx for new diesel cars, and 80mg/km for petrols, but that reading is taken from laboratory driving conditions rather than real-life use — suggesting the Clio is breaking that tenfold.
Also tested under AIR Index conditions was a 2017 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DiG-T — a petrol car — which is said to emit 80-160mg/km of NOx plus a 2015 Mini Cooper S with an apparent 168-200mg/km, while both a 2017 Ford Focus 1.5 TDCI and 2018 Dacia Duster 1.5 DCI are said to emit 270-600mg/km in real-world driving.
