How to define and achieve Zero-Impact emissions in road transport?

In a novel approach, emission and air pollution aspects are combined to determine vehicles that “do not affect” air quality. First, the term “Zero-Impact Emissions” is defined. A compliance test matrix is developed consisting of seven different scenarios, with individual boundary conditions such as dilution, ambient conditions, traffic volume, and cold start share. The average fleet emissions required to achieve Zero-Impact Emissions range from 33 mg/km NOx for an uphill Brenner drive down to 6 mg/km for a high-traffic highway. Finally, simulation models with state-of-the-art exhaust aftertreatment are used to test the scenarios for a gasoline passenger car and a light-duty diesel vehicle. The results demonstrate that Zero-Impact Emissions compliance depends strongly on the boundary conditions. In the High Alpine Uphill and High Traffic Brenner scenarios (typical emission worst-cases), this can already be achieved, while scenarios with high traffic volume or high cold start share require additional measures.