With the new CLS, Mercedes Benz begins its adaptation to the new WLTP and RDE standards

Until next autumn, Mercedes-Benz will progressively change the test procedures to which it subjects all its models in order to pass the new and more demanding homologation tests that on fuel consumption and emissions have been introduced in the European Union.

The entry into force of the new regulations governing WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure) and the RDE (Real Driving Emissions) test obliges manufacturers to modify their own internal test procedures that all their models go through before their commercial launch.

The new WLTP standard provides test results that are closer to those occurring in real-world driving than those provided until now by the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) tests, in force since 1992. Furthermore, these new WLTP tests include a more realistic dynamic test adjusted to real road traffic conditions, with a view to achieving control of vehicle emissions under real-world conditions. The EU has also modified the conditions under which this type of test must be carried out, conditions that it has set out in the RDE (Real Driving Emissions) test.

Mercedes Benz announces that until next autumn it will progressively introduce the new regulations into the homologation tests of its vehicles. In fact, the new Mercedes CLS will be the first model to undergo them. “Customers will benefit from WLTP, as it provides a more realistic measure for comparing the consumption and emissions of different vehicle models,” says Ola Källenius, member of the Board of Management of the Daimler Group and head of Research and Development for both the German consortium and Mercedes-Benz.

The new CLS will be the first model of the star brand to undergo the new certification system under the WLTP and RDE standards, under the requirements set out in the Euro 6d-TEMP regulation.

More complex and costly certification, but more realistic

Certifying a vehicle under these requirements takes twice the time and effort compared with the work and measurements currently required for NEDC tests. The WLTP tests include many different individual tests and entirely new procedures, whose execution, evaluation and documentation requirements are significantly higher than those used until now.

It is estimated that from September onwards manufacturers will begin to publish the new WLTP figures for their cars in their brochures, publications and websites. Mercedes Benz has already moved ahead and is answering all questions from its customers and followers about WLTP and RDE tests on its website. In September 2017 that WLTP regulation came into force, and we anticipate that manufacturers will pass those extra costs on to the price of their vehicles.

The star brand has placed environmental protection ahead of fuel consumption, and considers that the sooner it integrates these new regulations into the development of its vehicles, the greater the benefits it will obtain in minimising the environmental impacts and costs its models produce.

For this reason, the Stuttgart manufacturer carries out a comprehensive assessment of the entire ecological life cycle of each of its products, seeking to achieve maximum environmental compatibility for each of them from start to finish. The star brand examines all environmentally relevant aspects of its cars’ lives, from the production of raw materials, through manufacturing and vehicle use, to the subsequent vehicle recycling process at the end of its useful life, many years after it was produced. A process that is permanently verified and whose results are confirmed by completely independent advisers from the authorities responsible for inspecting vehicles and carrying out the final WLTP/RDE homologation tests (in Germany, TÜV Süd).