Comparison of fuel consumption and exhaust emissions in WLTP and NEDC procedures

Fuel consumption achieved in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) could be 50% lower than the fuel consumption in real driving conditions and in the case of emissions of regulated toxic compounds the differences could even be much greater. In order to bring the results achieved in official tests closer to real life figures, the European Commission introduced in 2017 the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), which replaced the NEDC. In this article the results of fuel consumption and exhaust emissions for 3 cars fitted with engines of the same displacement but with direct and indirect gasoline injection, determined according to the NEDC and WLTC were presented. The results show that the effect of driving cycle on the fuel consumption is equivocal – for one car, fuel consumption was higher in the WLTC; for the other one in the NEDC; and for the third one, fuel consumption achieved in both driving cycles was practically the same. Emissions of regulated exhaust compounds, except for THC, obtained in the WLTC were higher than in the NEDC driving cycle.