Range Rover Evoque first luxury compact SUV to comply to stricter RDE2 tests

The new Range Rover Evoque has become the first luxury compact SUV to be certified under stringent new NOx emissions targets, Real Driving Emissions stage 2 (RDE2), ahead of the official legislative introduction for new models in January 2020.

All Jaguar and Land Rover models already meet the standards required by the first phase of the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) testing procedure, which came into effect in September 2018. However, the new Range Rover Evoque in D150 manual front wheel drive (FWD) trim now complies with the even more rigorous second phase requirements (RDE2).

This states that the vehicle must emit 80mg/km or less of NOx, making the new Evoque the first luxury compact SUV to be certified more than a year ahead of RDE2’s scheduled implementation on all new vehicles by 2020.

Nick Rogers, executive director of product engineering, Jaguar Land Rover, said, “Meeting the standards for this certification almost two years ahead of schedule is a real achievement and a result of collaboration within our engineering team to develop advanced engine and exhaust technologies.

“The new Range Rover Evoque uses a low-friction engine design which has reduced real-world driving NOx emissions by 90% since 2010, demonstrating vast progress for Jaguar Land Rover. Independent groups, including AIR Index (Allow Independent Road-testing) and ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club), are verifying that our diesels are some of the cleanest available.”

This early certification has been achieved using advanced engine and exhaust technologies. The system injects AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid into the exhaust gas, where it reacts with the NOx and converts it into harmless nitrogen and water, ensuring that the Ingenium diesels comply with the stringent Euro6d-Final limits.

With its low-friction engine design, NOx emissions are also minimized during warm-up as the vehicle reaches optimum temperature. In addition, efficient diesel particulate filters are neatly integrated into the aftertreatment system and trap 99.9% of soot as the exhaust gas passes through them.

As part of the RDE testing protocols, new vehicles are put through a series of tests designed to reflect real world driving more accurately. This can include various combinations of different driving styles, varying vehicle loads to take into account passengers and luggage, cold starts, warmer weather conditions and undulating routes.

In addition to RDE2 compliance on the D150 manual FWD variant, improvements to CO₂ emissions across the new Range Rover Evoque range have been achieved through the addition of enhanced active vanes that improve aerodynamic efficiency by 14%. These remain closed during the engine’s warm up phase, allowing it to reach operating temperature more quickly, but also close in conditions when additional cooling is no longer required – such as a steady-state cruise – which also reduces drag.

The introduction of mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV) technology improves emissions further, harvesting energy normally lost during deceleration, which can then be redeployed as torque to assist the engine under acceleration.