The advent of stop-start technology

As environmental concerns grow for R&D teams, OEMs look to bring the strategy further into the mainstream.

Environmental issues have become a primary concern for research and development teams globally. Euro VI, mandated in all new cars sold in the European Union from September 2014, is stricter than ever. Bharat Stage IV, a prevalent emissions standard in NCR and 13 major cities in India, is proposed to be replaced by Stage V in 2017 nationwide.

In fact, the deplorable air quality in Indian metropolitan cities has driven the Ministry of Environment and Forests to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court urging to leapfrog to Stage VI by 2020. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association, which accounts for roughly 85% of all cars sold in the European Union, has voluntarily agreed to limit their average CO₂ emissions to 95 g/km by 2020. To put things in perspective, the average CO₂ emissions for the passenger fleet was about 125 g/km in Europe in 2013. There is currently no regulation on CO₂ emissions in India, but that is soon to change.