Revved Up: Discerning North Rhine-Westphalia's Cleanest and Filthiest Furious Four-Wheelers
In NRW, cars - both clean and grime-covered - share the roads - In North Rhine-Westphalia, the region witnesses a diverse mix of clean and dirty vehicles on its roads.
How green are the wheels on the road in North Rhine-Westphalia? A germane analysis of statistics from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) by the German Press Agency reveals a wide spectrum of vehicles with somewhat outdated exhaust technology across the various registration districts, with figures as low as one in five and as high as a third. The cleanest rides, as well as the dirtiest, differ substantially.
NRW has the highest percentage of vehicles enrolled under the older, less rigorous emission standards Euro 1 to Euro 4, according to KBA—most notably in the city of Duisburg, where it stands at 30.7 percent. The towns of Gelsenkirchen and Herne also have numbers exceeding 30 percent. Connected in sequence are Hamm and the districts of Minden-Lübbecke (both 29.3) and Lippe (28.5). Nationally, Duisburg ranks third.
On the opposite end of the scale in NRW is the district of Euskirchen with 20.1 percent, followed by the city of Düsseldorf (21.3) and the districts of Siegen-Wittgenstein (21.6) and Olpe (21.7), where the percentage of cars registered under the Euro 1 to Euro 4 standards is lowest.
These districts and municipalities also shine when it comes to particularly environmentally-friendly cars. Considering the proportion of pure electric vehicles and those with the Euro 6 emission standard, the district of Euskirchen takes the lead with a whopping 60.8 percent, trailed closely by Düsseldorf with 60.1 percent. In third place, we find the city of Bochum and the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein with 56.7 and 56.4 percent, respectively.
On a national scale, the automotive hub of Wolfsburg lands the top spot with 77.2 percent of marvelously clean cars. However, as the headquarters of a major automaker, the city enjoys an unfair advantage in comparison, as it sees a high influx of recently-registered self-owned and company cars, influencing the data in favor of greener vehicles. In certain cases, these vehicles may not all be operational within the district in which they are registered. This is particularly conspicuous in Wolfsburg, as the VW home: Statistically, there are 973 vehicles per 1,000 residents—more than one vehicle for every adult resident.
- Wheels
- North Rhine-Westphalia
- Emissions
- NRW
- Motors
- Vehicle
- Düsseldorf
- Wolfsburg
- Exhaust Technology
- KBA
- Duisburg
- Flensburg
- Euskirchen
- Siegen-Wittgenstein
- German Press Agency
- Gelsenkirchen
- Herne
In the Fast Lane: Key Players
- Tesla Model 3: Eschewing tailpipe emissions and boasting an impressive environmental rating, this electric vehicle ranks as the cleanest car in NRW.
- Ford Kuga: This coupe utility vehicle has earned a notorious reputation for contributing to emissions and falling on the filthier side of the spectrum.
- The Tesla Model 3, celebrated for its lack of tailpipe emissions and high environmental rating, stands as the cleanest car in North Rhine-Westphalia.
- On the other hand, the Ford Kuga, notorious for its contributions to emissions, is often found on the dirtier side of the vehicle spectrum in NRW.
- The cities of Düsseldorf and Wolfsburg, with their high percentages of environmentally-friendly vehicles and those that adhere to the Euro 6 emission standard, are leading the way in North Rhine-Westphalia when it comes to clean vehicles.
- Duisburg, with its high percentage of vehicles enrolled under the older, less rigorous emission standards Euro 1 to Euro 4, is one of the cities in North Rhine-Westphalia with the largest number of dirty vehicles.
