CREMONA (3 October 2020) – Limits are coming from 11 January to 31 March for over 25 thousand Euro 4 diesel vehicles without particulate filter (Fpa), produced before 2008. They will not be able to circulate throughout the winter, from Monday on Fridays, from 7.30 to 19.30, in the municipalities of band 1 (Bonemerse, Castelverde, Cremona, Dovera, Gadesco Pieve Delmona, Gerre de ‘Caprioli, Malagnino, Persico Dosimo, Sesto ed Uniti, Spinadesco). Block all year for Euro 1 petrol and Euro 3 diesel cars (total limitations in the municipalities of band 1 and 2), from Monday to Friday, from 7.30 to 19.30, which means respectively another 2,713 and 12,918 cars that will not be able to circulate. In total, 40,000 vehicles in the province of Cremona are affected by the anti-smog measures launched the other day by the Lombardy Region, which also arranged to postpone the start of the measures to 11 January (compared to the previous fixed date, 1 October) . We start from these data to evaluate the impact at the local level of a revised package following the pandemic and the consequent lockdown, accompanied by a series of measures that should somehow make the blocks less heavy, in particular thanks to Move in , the box that is installed in the car, counts the kilometers traveled and allows, if a certain annual mileage is not exceeded, to use the finished vehicles in the black list.
The photograph that emerges from the registry of the Automobile club of Italy in relation to the province of Cremona illustrates a picture of lights and shadows regarding the average age of the vehicles in circulation, also by comparing those data to what happens in other Italian provinces. The total number of petrol cars (102,000) slightly exceeds diesel cars (101,000), reversing the figures for 2018, when diesel cars were higher than those powered by petrol (102,000 versus 100,000). The total of Euro 0 in 2019 stood at 12,212 vehicles, with a decrease of just 125 units compared to the previous year. The decrease in Euro 3 is also significant, passing from 27,350 to 24,221. On the other hand, there are the Euro 6, by far the most performing cars from the point of view of environmental impact, which in 2019 rose to 60,829, with a significant leap compared to the 47,362 of 2018. This is undoubtedly one of the more positive data. The turning point revolves around the Euro 4. Those diesel without particulate filter decreased, between 2018 and 2019, by 2,234 units. Those with petrol, for the moment excluded from any measure, have dropped more or less by the same number, going from 29,577 in 2018 to 27,962 last year. Euro 5 slightly decreased, from 51,040 in 2018 to 50,100 in 2019. The decline in diesel-fueled vehicles has declined in all classes even if, as it is logical to expect, the most significant jump is recorded in the Euro 6, which offer engines with significant reduction of emissions capable, in theory, of guaranteeing possible problems from blocking the circulation for a certain number of years. A separate discussion is what concerns alternative energies, that is to say engines fueled by petrol and liquid gas, petrol and methane and electricity. The advance is slow for the first two categories while it is relevant in percentage, but little in absolute value, for electric. Between 2018 and 2019, vehicles powered by petrol and liquid gas increased from 12,759 to 13,238; those powered by petrol and methane went from 3,853 to 3,887. The electric ones have more than doubled, but the numbers are low: they went from 47 in 2018 to 99 last year. The still rather high costs of electricity represent a brake on its spread. The performance of the hybrid-petrol engines was good: the cars of that type in circulation went from 1,932 in 2018 to 2,563 last year.
Numbers always very low for the hybrid-diesel, even if the percentage increase was considerable. In just one year, it went from 35 to 196 vehicles in circulation, an increase of 460%. If that percentage increase had occurred by adding two zeros to the number of cars, the impact on the environment would have been truly remarkable.
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