Emissions Analytics

Find your car’s true pollution thanks to new on-road tests

Car's true pollution

You might think you know how polluting your car is from official figures. On-road tests will be more accurate

Finding your car’s true pollution would have been nearly impossible as recently as a few months ago. But now you can discover the true emissions  – harmful and otherwise – pumped out of its exhaust pipe. It’s courtesy of a company called Emissions Analytics which tests cars’ real-world performance for emissions and economy.

By measuring their miles per gallon and pollution output on the road, rather than in a lab like the official figures do, Emissions Analytics can build up a picture of how cars really perform. Just as you’ve probably found out for yourself that your car’s real-life economy differs from that claimed by its manufacturer, so its carbon dioxide (CO2) output is different too. Now, as well as your car’s true output of nitrogen oxide , you can find its real carbon dioxide output, as well as its genuine miles per gallon in every day motoring.

Which were the worst cars for real CO2?

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Choosing the best car: top 10 diesel and petrol cars with low NOx output

Nitrogen oxide emissions

It’s not easy being a driver who wants to do their bit and buy a car with the lowest nitrogen oxide emissions. These NOx are harmful pollutants emitted by cars that are estimated to contribute to over 30,000 premature deaths a year in the UK. Information about a car’s NOx levels has been hard to come by as, for obvious reasons, vehicle manufacturers tend to advertise cars’ fuel economy or performance rather than the nasty particulates pumped out of exhausts.

But now a new website allows drivers to see just how polluting Britain’s most popular makes and model of car are when used in normal, everyday driving conditions.

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