Two thirds of German cars now meet highest EU emission standards

Almost two thirds of German cars now comply with the two strictest European Union emission standards, an analysis by dpa based on data from the vehicle licensing authorities has found, reported dpa.

On April 1, 32.5 million vehicles on German roads met the Euro 6 and Euro 5 standards, equivalent to 66.6% of the vehicle fleet. If electric vehicles are included, the proportion rises to 68.8%.

At the start of 2018, the figure was slightly above 48%, taking all vehicles into account at a time when electric cars were still rare.

Cars powered by diesel or petrol engines meeting the strictest standard, Euro 6, plus electric cars now make up 46.4% of Germany's total vehicle fleet. Almost all new registrations currently meet the Euro 6 standard, as older vehicles head to the scrapyard.

There was some variation by state. While the northern city-state of Bremen brought up the rear with just 65.5% of vehicles meeting Euro 5 or Euro 6 or being electric, Thuringia in the centre of the country led the way on 72.1%.