Search Results

Regulated gaseous emissions from two Euro 3 motorcycles and three Euro 5 passenger cars were measured over different driving cycles. The purpose of this study was to get data on typical emission levels and patterns of motorcycles and passenger cars currently circulating on the road in Europe. In respect to this, three driving cycles were selected: the current type approval driving cycles used to certify the test vehicles for emissions (NEDC for passenger cars and the EDC for motorcycles) and the world-wide harmonized driving cycle for motorcycles (WMTC). The gaseous emissions (NOx, HC, CO and CO2) were measured using the typical type approval test procedure for light duty vehicles. Since all the vehicles tested had been certified using the relevant current legislative cycle (i.e. NEDC or EDC), these vehicles were presumably not optimized for the WMTC cycle.

The increasing urbanization level of many countries around the globe has led to a rapid increase of mobility demand in cities. Although public transport may play an important role, there are still many people relying on private vehicles, and, especially in urban areas, motorcycles and scooters can combine handling and flexibility with lower cost of operation compared to passenger cars. However, in spite of their lower fuel demand, they might significantly contribute to air pollution, lagging behind cars in terms of emission performances. The aim of this paper is to provide the scientific community with the results of an exploratory test campaign on four different motorcycles, converted from gasoline to CNG by means of an after-market conversion kit. A fifth motorcycle, similarly converted from gasoline to LPG, was also tested. These vehicles are powered by 4-strokes engines with a displacement ranging from 50 to 250 cm3 and a power ranging from 3.0 to 16.5 kW.