VOLVO DISPELS MYTHS THAT SMALL CARS ARE ALWAYS LOW EMISSION GREEN CARS

• Volvo App reveals the dirtiest and cleanest emission cars on sale in the UK
• 2.5 petrol V70 estate has half the toxic emissions of some small superminis

A new App launched by Volvo, in association with http://www.cleangreencars.co.uk/ dispels the myth that small cars are automatically low emission cars.

The free App which is available for the iPhone reveals the toxic emissions which impact local air quality and human health, such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons and particulates.

By using the App, Volvo highlighted a V70 2.5 petrol manual estate which generates 201mg/km of toxic emissions, compared with the 1.2 litre Fiat 500 Start Stop supermini, which at 425 mg/km generates more than twice as many toxic emissions as the Volvo.

Similarly, a Volvo S80 1.6D DRIVe executive saloon generates 440mg/km of non-CO₂ pollutants - fewer than the 1.3-litre Vauxhall Corsa 75 PS diesel supermini (492mg/km).

The Volvo App splits toxic emissions into seven bands - Band A includes cars with toxic emissions of between 0-275mg/km, rising to Band G cars with toxic emissions of over 600mg/km.

Volvo's App shows the ‘dirtiest' car on sale generates a hefty 2080mg/km of toxic emissions, with a number of others emitting over 1000mg/km. The Bottom 20 table includes a surprising mix of cars, including a 1.2 litre petrol supermini, a low emission branded small family car and a mix of family cars and people carriers.

By contrast the cleanest car in the UK is the Skoda Yeti 1.2 105PS which generates 49mg/km of toxic emissions, followed by the Nissan Qashqai+2 2.0 4x2 (71mg/km) and the Honda Insight 1.3 IMA S/SE (73mg/km).

Volvo product performs generally quite well with the C70 2.4 170PS generating the lowest emissions (121mg/km - Band A) in the small sports sector, while the S40 D5 Geartronic sits in Band A of the Compact Executive Sector at 271mg/km.

The App has been built with http://www.cleangreencars.co.uk/ using data supplied by the Vehicle Certification Agency (http://www.vca.gov.uk/ ), the Government agency which publishes the official environmental details of all new cars sold in the UK.  The App is available at http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/emissions-equality/id389567557?mt=8 once iTunes is downloaded onto a PC.

"We proved earlier in the year that just because a driver is buying a small car doesn't necessarily mean they are buying a low tailpipe emission car," explained Volvo Car UK's managing director Peter Rask, regional President for Volvo Car UK, Ireland and Iceland.

"What our Emissions Equality programme aims to do is to help drivers make more informed decisions by giving them access to the total emissions data of their car. Ultimately by using the information on our App, drivers can genuinely help improve local air quality," he added.

In conjunction with the new App, Volvo Car UK has also launched an online Facebook petition to mobilise the masses to try and influence Government into mandating the information contained in the App to be available in all car dealerships.  Details can be found at www.facebook.com/insidevolvouk.