Ecological class of a car: how to find out, table, laws
Since Russia is one of the countries participating in the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, our country has legally enshrined standards concerning the composition of exhaust gases. The regulations clearly state that only vehicles that emit no more than a specified amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere can be used in the territory of the country. In our article, we will discuss what the concept of “ecological class of the car” includes and what classes exist today.
What is the ecological class of a car
The system of dividing cars into environmental classes is based on studies concerning the composition of exhaust gases. It has been found that, on average, one car consumes about four tons of oxygen during a year of operation, and emits the following products of its processing into the air:
- carbon monoxide – about 800 kg;
- carbohydrates – 200 kg;
- nitrogen oxides – 40 kg.
At the same time according to statistics every day there are more and more new cars on the roads. Environmental experts are seriously concerned about how the constant growth of poisonous emissions will affect the Earth’s ecosystem. Naturally, it is not possible to limit the number of private vehicles at the legislative level. Instead, it was decided to introduce standards concerning the maximum content of harmful substances in exhaust gases. To date, they are required to comply with all companies that produce cars.
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So, what is the meaning of the concept of ecological class of the car? All vehicles are classified into several categories depending on how much hazardous substances they emit into the air during operation. The fuel used by the vehicle is also taken into account, since fumes from the fuel also have a destructive effect on the atmosphere.
The harmful fumes include:
- CO – carbon monoxide;
- NO – nitrogen oxide;
- hydrocarbons;
- solids of small fractions.
Ecological class is assigned to the car during crossing the state border, at the customs. The car must have a technical passport, in which a mark is put, what class it belongs to.
How it all began
The documents related to the regulation of emission of toxic substances from vehicles started to appear in 1992. Even then, the state of ecology in European countries left much to be desired. The first standard limiting the amount of harmful emissions was called Euro 1. A few years later, a second standard, Euro 2, was adopted, with even stricter standards. Later, thanks to the active work of environmental organizations, the third, fourth and fifth editions of environmental standards were adopted. As a result, in such a matter as the environmental classes of cars, the euro is the main standard.
In our country, the first eco-standard for cars was introduced in 2006 Euro 2. Then every two years the document was changed to a newer one. As for cars imported into Russia this year, they must already comply with the most modern standard – Euro 5.
How do the laws about the ecological class of the car affect the life of ordinary people? First of all, they limit the possibility of importing foreign cars into the country that do not meet the current standards.
Let’s explain by example how it works.
Let’s say someone bought a 2003 Citroen car in Europe and wants to transport it to Russia. The problem is that it is impossible to register this car and obtain a technical passport for it. Since in 2003 in the European countries operated standard Euro 3, and in Russia is now relevant a newer standard, the environmental class of this car is considered outdated. To avoid this problem, it was necessary to choose a newer Citroën, in the year of manufacture of which the current environmental standard was already in force.
Ecological classes of cars
Euro-1 is a standard that was the first small step toward protecting the environment from the harmful effects of automotive emissions. The norms outlined in it applied only to gasoline-powered vehicles. Euro-1 set the maximum possible content of such substances as nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases. However, these restrictions cannot be called rigid.
Euro-2 is the next version of the ecological class of cars, which stipulated that the content of toxic substances in automobile gases must be reduced threefold. In Russia it was legally recognized in 2005 and started to be applied in 2006.
Euro-3 is the first standard, which also had to meet the diesel engine vehicles. Standards for the amount of harmful impurities in exhaust gases are even more stringent. The maximum content of such substances has been reduced by almost 40% compared with the previous version.
Euro-4 has been actively implemented in Europe since 2005, and in the Russian Federation since 2010. Vehicles complying with this environmental class must emit 40 % fewer harmful compounds into the atmosphere than vehicles of Euro 3 class.
Euro-5 is the latest version of the environmental standard. Since 2008, the norms of this edition became mandatory for trucks, and since 2009 for cars. In 2015, this standard was adopted in our country. At the moment, both in Russia and in all states of the European Union are allowed to sell only vehicles of this class.
After the widespread use of the environmental class of cars Euro 5, it became dangerous to purchase vehicles of a different class abroad. Such a car can be imported to the territory of the country, where the new standard is valid, but it can not be used for its intended purpose. When you enter Russia at the customs, you won’t receive a technical passport for a Euro 4 or Euro 3 vehicle, and therefore you won’t be able to register it in the GIBDD. Such a situation will occur regardless of the purpose for which you purchased the car, whether it is a truck or passenger, new or used.
The only way to buy a Euro 4 car and drive it is to turn to reliable domestic suppliers. If the car is already in the country at the time of purchase and has a valid license plate, there will be no need for new documents, and the car can be driven legally.
The changes in environmental legislation have affected not only transport, but also the oil refining industry. All enterprises are now obliged to use gasoline conforming to Euro 5 standards. This reform was prepared for quite a long time, and in 2016 all the necessary modernization measures were completed.
So, an environmental class is assigned to each vehicle depending on its characteristics. Both in Russia and in other states there are regulations related to the use of cars of one or another class. For example, a number of rules relate to driving in protected areas. Cars emitting inadmissible amounts of chemicals into the atmosphere are prohibited from entering protected areas.
How to find out the environmental class of the car
Due to changes in regulations, motorists may need to convert their vehicles. To understand whether you will have to change the engine or it is enough to make changes in the documents, you need to know what environmental class the vehicle has at the moment. This will determine the list of actions that will allow you to bring the car into compliance with current standards.
There are several ways to determine the environmental class of your car:
Examine your car’s registration certificate.
If you drive a car, you must have a registration document. The newer certificates have a line called: “environmental class”.
In this line, the number of class is written in words: fifth, fourth, and so on.
If you have such a certificate, you can easily find out what class your car belongs to. Then you only need to consider the changes in the laws that are in effect since 2018.
But the CTC of the new type started to be issued quite recently. In the documents received a few years ago, the environmental class was not specified. If you are the owner of such a certificate, then the restrictions that will come into force in 2021 will be relevant for your car.
There is another point: the ecological class of the car may not be specified in the certificate, but it is noted in the technical passport. However, according to the new rules, it will still be considered that the class of your car is unknown. Accordingly, all the new restrictions will be actual for you. Such situation will upset the drivers, especially if they deliberately bought a car with high ecological safety class, but at the moment of purchase the respective marking was not put in the certificate.
To avoid problems in the future, it is worth contacting the traffic police and request a new certificate for the vehicle. You still have time for this, since the changes will only take effect in a few years. It is not difficult to replace the vehicle certificate: the procedure takes a few days, and the fee is 500 rubles for the paper version or 1500 for the plastic version.
2. Look in the car’s passport.
The passport of any car contains the main data about it, among which may be the number of ecological class. The new type documents also have a special line for this, where this information is written in words.
In the certificate of registration issued several years ago, the ecological class may be indicated in the column for additional information.
If your certificate does not say anything about the class of the car, refer to the table of Rosstandart.
Determine the ecological class of the car according to the table of Rosstandart.
The ecological class of the car can be determined using a special table. It is compiled by the agency responsible for the certification of vehicles, taking into account the standards in force in the country.
The table takes into account two main criteria: in what year the vehicle was produced and in what country. Among the manufacturers are the countries of the European Union, as well as a number of other states. In order to make the data in the table reliable, the authors took into account not only UNECE standards, but also local legal restrictions, adopted in each of the designated states.
Although the table was developed in Russia and for Russians, our country is not on the list. The thing is that all environmental standards in Russia were introduced with a delay compared to European countries, and for a long time they were absent at all. Accordingly, you cannot compare a car manufactured in the early 2000s or earlier in Russia with a similar vehicle brought from Europe.
If you have determined the ecological class of your car according to this table, but you still have some questions, you can go to the electronic database with your VIN-code.
This code can be located on different parts of the vehicle. Most often it is the engine, the body pillar by the driver’s seat, the torpedo on the driver’s side, the floor panelling, the door sill. Also the identifier can always be found in the passport.
So, to help motorists, Rosstandart has made a table, after studying which you can find out the environmental class of the car. To do this, you need to know only two parameters: where the car was released and in what year.
The table takes into account the environmental regulations of the EU, the U.S. and all other countries that are in the list of manufacturers.
Ecological classes of vehicles: table
Year of production of the vehicle, including
They do not meet the standards at the moment of import to the RF (Euro1 or lower)
Ecological class in the declaration on transport tax
Ecological class in the transport tax declaration will need to indicate if it affects the applicable rate. Let’s look at what the need to use this indicator depends on, and where it can be found.
Is the ecological class of the car important for transport tax?
The value of the parameters involved in calculating transport tax depends to a large extent on the rules established in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (article 356 of the Tax Code). Regions are given the opportunity not only to independently introduce benefits, establish the procedure and terms of payment, but also to determine the value of the rate for calculating the tax.
The size of rate depending on the type of transport is linked to different parameters. For auto-, motor-, non-reactive aircraft and self-propelled water transport it depends on the engine power. The basic rate values are specified in the Tax Code of the RF (clause 1 of Article 361), but in the region they can be increased or decreased and differentiated. It is important that the final result does not deviate from the base one by more than 10 times and does not apply to the cars with the power not exceeding 150 hp (p. 2 p. 361 of Section 361 of the TC RF).
The differentiation of rates can be connected (p. 3 of Article 361 of the Tax Code)
- with the category of transport;
- its age;
- ecological class.
Thus, the ecological class of a vehicle for transport tax acquires significance when choosing the rate if such dependence is established by regional law. In a transport tax declaration, line 110 in section 2 is reserved for indicating the ecological class. If the rate is not tied to that indication, then the line will be dashed (Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia of 20.07.2012 No. БС-4-11/12083).
You can read more about the procedure of filling in the declaration in the article “Procedure of Filling In a Transport Tax Declaration”.
The ecological class of a vehicle – what is it?
What characterizes a vehicle’s ecological class taken into account when calculating transport tax?
The work of a car is accompanied by the emission of pollutants. Their composition is determined by:
- harmful substances contained in exhaust gases;
- fumes from fuel of a certain type.
The volume of these substances creates a very specific level of pollution that occurs during the operation of a car or truck. This is how motor vehicles are divided into ecological classes.
Currently in Russia, the division established by the decision of the Commission of the Customs Union dated 09.12.2011 № 877 (subpara. 1.4 p. 1 of Annex 1) is applied. It defines six environmental classes (from 0 to 5). Each of them is tied to the vehicles of certain types and types of fuel on which their engines run, and is correlated to the rules determining the permissible level of emissions arising from the operation of a car in good condition. A higher environmental class corresponds to a lower level of emissions.
How do I know my emission class?
However, you do not need to refer to the above-mentioned decision of the Commission of the Customs Union to find out what class the vehicle belongs to. This can be done in a simpler way.
Ecological class is indicated in a special line (No. 13) in the modern form of the passport of the vehicle (PTS). Ecological class number is given here in words, not numbers. In the old variant of TCP, which does not have a special line, a note about the number of ecological class may be placed in the column “Special remarks” in the upper left corner of the document.
About how the engine power of the car, specified in the motor certificate in kilowatts, to translate into horsepower, read in the article “Transport tax on cars in Russia 2019 – 2020”.
Results
One of the indicators affecting the amount of the applied rate of transport tax may be the environmental class to which a particular vehicle belongs. The question of its use depends on the decision taken when setting the rates in the region.
The class number is indicated in the certificate of the vehicle of the modern sample in the line specially allocated for this purpose. If the vehicle registration certificate is issued on the old form, the information about the number of ecological class may be reflected in the column “Special remarks”.
- Tax Code of the Russian Federation
- Decision No. 877 of the Customs Union Commission dated December 9, 2011.
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