A new analysis of the continent and its islands has ranked nations in terms of the highest environmental burden from road vehicles.
Conducted by used car part marketplace Ovoko, the research looked at all 27 EU member states. Examining CO2 intensity, and the proportion of registered vehicles running on internal combustion engines, cars, vans, trucks and buses were all factored into the results.
Numbers were gleaned from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association and, unsurprisingly, countries which had the highest percentage of diesel and petrol-powered motors fared the worst. Lithuania topped the league table for Vehicle Pollution Score – at 72.86. This is followed by Czechia (72.47), and Slovakia (70.74), Latvia (70.36), and Poland (69.40).
‘The transition to cleaner transport isn’t happening uniformly across Europe,’ explains Kazimieras Urbonas, Supplier Excellence Manager at Ovoko. ‘Two countries might have similar emission standards for new vehicles, but if one has an older fleet dominated by petrol and diesel engines, the actual environmental impact differs dramatically.
‘What we’re seeing reflects broader patterns across Baltic and Central European markets,’ they continued. ‘These countries have historically relied on importing used vehicles from Western Europe. When nations like Germany or France phase out older diesel cars, many end up in Eastern European markets where they continue operating for years.’
EU Vehicle Pollution Score Ranking
| Rank | Country | CO2 Emissions (g CO2/km) | % Of ICE Cars | % Of ICE Vans | % Of ICE Trucks | % Of ICE Buses | Vehicle Pollution Score |
| 1 | Lithuania | 129.9 | 90.31% | 3.95% | 5.40% | 0.35% | 72.86 |
| 2 | Czechia | 136.3 | 89.16% | 8.45% | 2.12% | 0.27% | 72.47 |
| 3 | Slovakia | 137.6 | 87.75% | 9.37% | 2.61% | 0.27% | 70.74 |
| 4 | Latvia | 132.1 | 88.40% | 7.62% | 3.55% | 0.43% | 70.36 |
| 5 | Poland | 134.8 | 85.88% | 10.21% | 3.57% | 0.34% | 69.40 |
| 6 | Estonia | 134.5 | 85.01% | 10.44% | 4.04% | 0.51% | 68.99 |
| 7 | Bulgaria | 130.8 | 85.58% | 10.11% | 3.78% | 0.52% | 65.34 |
| 8 | Hungary | 127.6 | 86.76% | 10.86% | 2.01% | 0.36% | 61.30 |
| 9 | Croatia | 127.2 | 88.75% | 8.41% | 2.57% | 0.28% | 60.91 |
| 10 | Slovenia | 123.9 | 89.65% | 7.39% | 2.75% | 0.21% | 59.55 |
Image: Alexander Grigoryev / Unsplash
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