Verifying method
1. Test Procedures (TCVN 6785:2015)
The following tests must be performed on vehicles equipped with forced combustion engines or hybrid electric
vehicles with forced combustion engines:
Test Type I (Check average emissions at the exhaust tailpipe after startup in idle state);
Test Type II (Check CO emissions at idle speed);
Test Type III (Check carbon monoxide (CO) emissions);
Test Type IV (Check fuel evaporation emissions);
Test Type V (Check durability of anti-pollution devices);
Test Type VI (Check CO and HC emissions at low ambient temperature after cold start);
OBD Testing (On-Board Diagnostics test).
2. Laboratory testing
When testing in the laboratory, the vehicle is placed on a chassis dynamometer or ‘roller bench’. A chassis
dynamometer is designed to operate on a stationary platform specifically designed for this purpose and to
simulate real-world vehicle operations. The vehicle is driven at a pre-defined speed-time pattern (driving
cycle), while the dynamometer simulates the inertia (mass) and driving resistances (rolling resistance and air
drag) of the vehicle. For every vehicle tested, the level of resistance is adjusted in the dynamometer in order to
simulate the level of resistance would be produced if the vehicle operated on the road. During the vehicle
driving operation on the roller bench, all emissions from the vehicle tailpipe are collected in sealed bags and
subsequently analysed. The emission results, measured in grams of pollutant per kilometre driven, are then
determined (EEA, 2016).
The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) was established in 1980 to simulate typical driving conditions and
to be used for the official type approval of the vehicles. Originally, the NEDC was developed when vehicles
were lighter and less powerful than those available today. As such, it didn't reflect how modern cars are driven,
and produced unrealistically low emission measurements and high fuel economy figures. Hence, the NEDC
became outdated.
As of September 2019, the NEDC was replaced by the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure
(WLTP). The WLTP has introduced much more realistic testing conditions, including a more realistic driving
involving harder acceleration and more time at high speeds, a stricter car set-up and measurement conditions.
The following figure shows a comparison of the main characteristics of NEDC and WLTP.
Fig 1. Comparison of NEDC and WLTP characteristics. Source: (Pollard, 2019)
3. On-road testing with PEMS
The Euro 4 standard brought more stringent requirements in vehicle emission control in Europe including the
RDE test. The most widely known method for RDE testing, involves the use of certified mobile measurement
equipment known as Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS). PEMS contains a variety of
instruments, for the monitoring of real-time emissions and for specific pollutants. It can be installed inside the
vehicle, either in the trunk or in the passenger compartment, as illustrated in the following picture. If there is no
available space, installation is also possible on a rack outside the vehicle.
Fig 2. PEMS mounted on vehicles to be tested on the road
One of the advantages of PEMS is that it is rather simple and inexpensive for purchase and maintenance
comparing to the chassis dynamometer. Its main limitations are its relative heavy and bulky equipment that
adds extra weight to the vehicle mass, as well as the limited range of pollutants that are measured during the
test, compared to the laboratory test. Furthermore, PEMS instrumentation is subject to measurement
uncertainties and affected by ambient conditions (e.g. temperature, altitude, vibrations etc), during real-world
driving, hence repeatability of the testing results may be difficult to ensure. However, technology
advancements will enable the measurement of additional pollutants and the reduction of measurement
uncertainties in the near future.
3. On-road testing with SEMS
Whereas the use of PEMS is required by the legislation for checking emissions, they are not very practical for
long-term monitoring of emission performance under a greater range of driving conditions. Therefore, the
Smart Emissions Measurement System (SEMS) has been developed more recently to cover this gap. SEMS is a
highly compact sensor-based system that measures emissions and can be easily built into a vehicle. Because it
is so compact, the vehicle can be used in the normal way while the measurements are being taken. This means
that measurements can be taken over a longer period of time, making it possible to gather large quantities of
practical data. SEMS offers a cost-effective alternative that makes large-scale monitoring possible (Kadijk et
al., 2016).
Fig 3. Smart Emissions Measuring System (SEMS)
4. Roadside testing
Another means of measuring motor vehicle emissions is Remote Emission Sensing (RES), which enables
measuring a large sample of vehicles over a short period of time. A light source and detector are placed in a
way that the pollutants produced by the vehicles interact with the light and finally, the vehicle exhaust
emissions can be determined. The latest remote sensing systems incorporate additional equipment and sensors
in order to acquire more information about the vehicle. This includes cameras which record vehicle
specifications (e.g., model, fuel type, make, engine size), devices that measures speed and rate of acceleration
and provides information regarding the engine load at the time of the measurement, as well as sensors that can
measure ambient conditions such as temperature, relative humidity and pressure (Dallmann, 2018).
Remote sensing measurements can be used to measure a large number of vehicles in a relatively short period of
time. However, each remote sensing measurement lasts less than one second and therefore does not provide
detailed insights into the emissions performance of a vehicle. This means that RES emissions data have limited
utility, since they cannot be linked with significant information with regards to the vehicle characteristics, or
how the vehicle is being operated during the measurement. RES can however be used to detect high emitters
and can serve as a screening for the selection of vehicles for a more dedicated measurement, for example in
relation to the enforcement of emission limits. Different RES set-ups are illustrated in the schematic below.
Fig 4. Illustration of horizontal and vertical remote sensing. Source: (ICCT, 2017)
https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/display/ULEV/How+to+measure+vehicle+emissions
