Exhaust emissions

[Adrian Payne]

Evening everyone.
I have just received a request from an Austin owner in Spain and wonder if anyone has ever had an Austin Seven tested or the relevant information.

"Hello, I am from Spain and I have an Austin Seven from 1928. My country has created a C02 Emissions tax and they are applying the highest tax to me because they do not know what CO2 emissions it emits. Could you tell me what CO2 emissions it emits and if you have any kind of certificate that says CO2 emissions, (could you send it to me) so I can present it? Thank you so much"

Many thanks.
Adrian.

[Reckless Rat]

I would have thought that the same rules apply throughout the EU as regards "oldtimers" - they are exempt most things, including emissions testing. This of course assumes of course that your friend has registered his car in Spain under a collector's document?
As far as I know there is no documentation /certification available.
Why can't he just take it to a testing station and get them to shove a probe up its pipe?

[Bob Culver]

The CO2 is proportional to the C in the fuel so for normal mixtures is closely related to fuel consumption, so a 1928 Seven comparable with a smallish modern.  With rich mixtures as at idle somewhat more than a low percent CO is produced but I dunno how this is assessed. Assessment at 40 mpg would seem conservative .

[andrew34ruby]

Why can't he just take it to a testing station and get them to shove a probe up its pipe?

Think you have this muddled Reckers. The testing station probe tests the percentage of nasties in your exhaust emissions. Tax is based on the quantity of carbon produced per distance driven. Normally this is a number calculated for your type of car, calculated by the manufacturer.

As bob says, it is very much related to miles per gallon.

[Reckless Rat]

As I said earlier, vintage vehicles are exempt. It didn't take much to find this on-line.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/faq/ve...-road-tax/

I suspect the real problem is that the vehicle has not been Spanish registered.

[John Cornforth]

Hi

If you assume 40 MPG (7.1 litres per 100 km) , that's 170 g/km

[stuartu]

Like Reckless, I had a brief Google. It seems that registration of a "collector's vehicle" in Spain involves a fairly substantial one-off payment - I found figures like 1,000 euros bandied about. The maximum CO2 payment, which I presume to be annual, appears to be of the order of 100 euros or less. Might be simpler and cheaper to pay the tax and try to smile.

If the vehicle isn't Spanish registered that is another matter entirely.

Adrian's correspondent is surely not the only person in Spain in this position. The FIVA lists 4 affiliated clubs for "antique" (as opposed to classic) vehicles. You might think that one of them could give some practical advice. I suspect that's a lot more likely than finding a CO2 emissions certificate that will satisfy the Spanish authorities.

Regards,

Stuart

[Bob Culver]

The curious may be bemused to note that the mass of CO2 produced considerably exceeds the mass of fuel used.

[Alan]

I’ve always found I.C. Engines a lot easier to understand if you think of them as burning air not petrol.

[Bob Culver]

It seems absurd any tax is simply not on the petrol sold. Use other than combustion would be insignificant, I suppose as usual high users and commercial interests have lobbied to place the burden elsewhere. We have similarly irrational disincentives for particular vehices here.