BERLIN, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Not a single car used by German politicians met the European Union (EU) fleet limit value for CO2, the lobby group Environmental Action Germany (DUH) announced on Monday.
The 13th edition of the DUH car survey found for the first time that greenhouse gas emissions were increasing. Out of the 237 cars examined, not even a single vehicle complied with the EU CO2 limit of 130 grams CO2 per kilometer in real operation.
Among German ministers, Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Andreas Scheuer led the emission ranking as his car, a BMW 745Le xDrive, had the highest real CO2 emissions of 258 grams per kilometer, according to DUH.
Of the 237 examined vehicles in the car fleet of German politicians, 143 had diesel engines, 74 were equipped with plug-in hybrid, and 17 had conventional petrol engines.
For the first time, three vehicles in the fleet had a pure electric drive, DUH noted. However, even these fully electric cars exceeded the EU limit if the consumed electricity was taken into account.
Compared to last year, the share of plug-in hybrids had increased from 67 to 74, according to DUH. However, tests showed that these vehicles were mainly operated in extremely inefficient combustion mode.
Professional drivers and politicians in Berlin had already complained that "allegedly climate-friendly plug-in company cars showed an absurdly high fuel consumption in real driving operation."
German ministers should lead "the way with a positive example" and "abstain from highly motorized gas-guzzling limousines," stressed Barbara Metz, DUH deputy executive director.
