Brazil’s new PROCONVE L-7 emission standards for light-duty vehicles will go into effect beginning January 1, 2022 for all new vehicles, and its new L-8 standards, which will get more stringent over time, will be introduced starting on January 1, 2025. The L-8 standards shift Brazil to a corporate averaging approach that requires vehicle manufacturers to meet fleet-average emission limits set for their entire vehicle fleet; these will increase in stringency as the L-8 standards are phased in for light passenger vehicles from 2025 to 2029 and for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) from 2025 to 2031.
The standards contain new and strengthened provisions that fill important gaps in previous phases of the PROCONVE program, including the adoption of more stringent evaporative emission requirements and the introduction of a refueling emission limit. However, Brazil has thus far not required any in-use testing or postproduction monitoring of vehicles, and that remains unchanged in the new standards. Moreover, the L-7 and L-8 standards retain exemptions that allow vehicles with certain off-road characteristics to be certified as LCVs. This will continue to allow sport utility vehicles and pick-up trucks used primarily for passenger transport to emit more pollution than passenger vehicles used for similar applications. As illustrated in the figure below, Brazil’s standards are less stringent than U.S. Tier 3 standards, in particular for diesel LCVs in the L-7 phase. The risk here is that best available emission control technologies are not likely to be employed in Brazilian diesel LCVs until the implementation of L-8 standards in 2025, if not later.
SOURCE: ICCT
