What type of engine to buy in 2022

Of the Low mobility emissions areas (ZFE-M) are being created throughout France: Aix-Marseille, Montpellier, Toulon, etc..)).

What Auto deserves the title of the car of the year 2022 ?

In a few hours, the European car jury of the year will award its 2022 trophy. Which in your opinion deserves to succeed the Toyota Yaris of 2021 ? The Peugeot 308 ? The Skoda Enyaq IV ? The Cupra Born ? The Kia Ev6 ? The Renault Mégane E-Tech ?

As at the start of the season, the car of the car of the year is preparing to designate the best automotive novelty of the moment. Composed of journalists selected everywhere in Europe, this jury will have to decide among the seven finalists of the 2022 selection: the Peugeot 308, the Skoda Enyaq IV, the Cupra Born, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Kia Ev6, the Renault Mégane E-Tech and The Ford Mustang Mach-E. The happy elected official will take over from the Toyota Yaris chosen in 2021, the Peugeot 208 elected in 2020 and the Jaguar I-Pace and Alpine A110, arrived at equality in 2019.

It will be clearly difficult to decide because all these models have great objective qualities. The Peugeot 308 has been praised for its style, its interior finish and its technology which make it more than ever a dangerous rival for the Volkswagen Golf. The Skoda Enyaq IV, which marks the arrival of the Czech manufacturer in the field of electric family SUVs, offers remarkable comfort and a very well finished interior. He also offers himself the luxury of having wearing his cousin from Volkswagen l’Id to the post.4, just like the Cupra Born which will seek to avenge the defeat of the Volkswagen Id.3 in 2021 thanks to its aggressive lines and pleasant driving. The Ford Mustang Mach-E can count on a strong design and its interior inspired by Tesla. Like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia Ev6 with a daring pencil, it also benefits from a successful motorcycle group. In total rupture compared to the classic mega, the Renault Mégane E-Tech rather highlights its cutting price/cutting-edge equipment.

Which deserves the most to win ?

On paper, all these cars can claim title 2022 thanks to their objective qualities. But in the context of this election, it is the Renault Mégane E-Tech which seems to us the best placed to prevail: it embodies by itself the new Renault strategy after a difficult period, in addition to displaying a coherent style and a well-placed price-press report with regard to competition. And you, who would you win if you were a member of the jury ?

• The Renault Mégane E-Tech is the best deal of the moment ?
• Our test of the Peugeot 308
• Our test of the Cupra BORN
• Our Essay by Skoda Enyaq
• Our Hyundai Ioniq5 test
• Our KIA EV6 test
• Our test of the Ford Mustang Mach-E

What type of engine to buy in 2022?

A few years ago, the choice of the type of engine of his new car was relatively simple.

Little rollers had every interest in driving in a gasoline vehicle while the large rollers were saving fuel by driving a vehicle operating on diesel.

A few hours on websites and visits and tests in dealerships made it possible to buy a new vehicle without making a mistake.

The self-reloadable hybrid technology developed by Toyota has paved the way for electrification while remaining little widespread for many years outside of motorists concerned about the environment.

Several events have complexified the choice of the type of engine in recent years.

The drop inDisplay of the price of diesel fuel price with petrol makes diesel motorization almost impossible to make profitable.

THE EURO 6D approval standards made the vehicle with a more expensive diesel engine to produce and therefore increased its sale price.

The role of politics in the Bashing diesel And global warming lead to traffic prohibitions in major cities, via areas with low mobility (ZFE-M) emissions dependent on the Crit’Air stickers.

The first ZFE of France (City of Paris) was adopted in 2015.

During the mobility orientation law (LOM) voted in 2019, France had 10 ZFE, some existing and others.

While they initially concerned only a city, the ZFEs now extend to the neighboring municipalities.

This is how the ZFE du Grand Paris touches the capital and 79 municipalities, the ZFE Métropole Lille concerns 11 municipalities, the Grenoble ZFE will concern 26 municipalities, the Lyon ZFE will extend over 4 municipalities (58 municipalities later) and The ZFE of Rouen-Normandie was extended to 12 municipalities in the metropolis.

Today areas with low mobility emissions (ZFE-M) concern Grenoble, Lyon, Nice, Paris, Reims, Rouen, Saint Etienne, Strasbourg, Toulouse, etc.

The low mobility (ZFE-M) areas are increasing under the constraint of the executive to comply with European standards in greenhouse gas emissions.

Of the Low mobility emissions areas (ZFE-M) are being created throughout France: Aix-Marseille, Montpellier, Toulon, etc..)).

THE circulation prohibitions In force in 2022 in areas with low mobility emissions (ZFE-M):

ZFE of the Metropolis of Grand Paris: vehicles Crit’Air 4, 5, and NC are prohibited
ZFE of the Metropolis of Lyon: Crit’Air 5, and NC will be prohibited from September 2022
ZFE de Grenoble-Alpes-Métropole: Crit’Air 4, 5 and NC utility vehicles are prohibited and Crit’Air 3 utility vehicles will be prohibited from July 2022
ZFE of Aix-Marseille-Provence: Prohibition of Crit’Air 5 vehicles from September 2022
ZFE de Toulouse: Crit’Air 5 and NC utility vehicles are prohibited
ZFE de Rouen-Normandie: Crit’Air 4, 5 and NC utility vehicles are prohibited
ZFE DU GRAND REIMS: Crit’Air 5 and NC vehicles are prohibited
ZFE of Saint-Etienne: the Crit’Air NC utilities are prohibited

By the end of 2024, there will be 43 areas with low mobility emissions (ZFE-M) in France.

All French motorists will be affected by areas with low mobility emissions (ZFE-M) in 2025.

The climate and resilience law passed in 2021 provides that only vehicles carrying a vertic Crit’Air vignette, 1 or 2 will be able to circulate in areas with low mobility emissions (ZFE-M) from January 1, 2025.

In summary, after having reached a peak of 73% of vehicle sales in France in 2012, the diesel engine has continued to decline for almost 10 years.

In 2021, the diesel engine only weighs 21.1% of the market.

The drop in diesel motorization will continue.

Car manufacturers have stopped investing in diesel technology.

The abolition of rolling versions in diesel concerns all manufacturers hitherto marketing vehicles with diesel motorization. And she grows more and more over time.

Traffic restrictions are brought to concern increasingly recent diesel vehicles in the coming years.

Vehicles bearing the Crit’Air 4 vignette (Euro 3 diesel cars issued between 2001 and 2005) can no longer travel in Paris from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday since June 1, 2021, and in the Métropole du Grand Paris.

Buying a vehicle operating in diesel in 2022 does not make sense. In most cases, this is a very bad idea, with the exception of the large roller keeping his diesel vehicle for a few years as part of a long -term rental or a rental with option to buy, and again.

In addition to the quasi-impossibility to absorb the additional cost of diesel motorization, the traffic prohibition which will strike recent vehicles operating on diesel will reduce the side of diesel vehicles on the second-hand market.

Auto-bashing contributes to the creation of low mobility emission zones in which the thermal engine is not welcome at all.

An area with a low emission of mobility (ZFE-M) is a territory in which a prohibition of access is established for certain categories of vehicles which do not meet certain emission standards and are therefore considered polluting.

The low mobility (ZFE-M) areas aim to make air from the cities cleaner by reducing emissions of air pollutants linked to road traffic (NOX, PM10, PM2.5 and volatile organic compounds)).

The low mobility emissions (ZFE-M) are authorized to limit traffic to the least polluting vehicles, according to criteria of their choice (perimeter, schedules, types of vehicles), therefore to prohibit traffic to vehicles considered to be The most polluting according to their Crit’Air thumbnail.

Future circulation prohibitions in areas with low mobility emissions (ZFE-M) will gradually concern all the vehicles with thermal motor in circulation.

The prohibition of circulation of diesel cars “Crit’Air 3” is scheduled in the Metropolis of Grand Paris from July 2023.

Recent diesel cars “Crit’Air 2” will then be prohibited from traffic (2024 in the Metropolis of Grand Paris).

The prospect of being hit with a traffic ban from 2024 with a modern diesel car bought in 2022 is completely dissuasive.

Then, petrol cars registered since 2011 (Crit’Air 1) will be subject to the same traffic bans (2030 in the Metropolis of Grand Paris).

From 2030, only “Crit’Air 0” electric vehicles will be allowed to circulate in the Metropolis of Grand Paris.

In this binding regulatory environment, opting for a petrol engine is obvious, if only to be able to run without restriction until 2030 in the Metropolis of Greater Paris, or over a period of 8 years.

There petrol engine has achieved immense technological progress in recent years. The consumption of latest generation petrol vehicles is low. Alterno-Démarteur (ISG) technical solutions of 48V with electric motor function, 48V lithium-ion battery and CC/CC 48V-12V converter helps lower consumption of fuel consumption..

There Hybrid motorization self-reloadable petrol has the advantage of reducing petrol consumption but the additional cost of technology is difficult to make profitable.

Rechargeable petrol hybrid motorization makes it possible to drive everyday electric subject to recharging high voltage battery daily. The savings made on a daily basis are nevertheless low compared to the very significant additional cost of this technology. The interest of rechargeable hybrid technology is based on the daily recharge of the vehicle in the event of daily use.

There petrol/LPG bicarburation engine, Present exclusively at Dacia and Renault, is economically interesting subject to being sold at the price of petrol engine, but the network of stations distributing LPG fuel is limited in number.

In 2022, the electric motorization is dear to purchase. The additional cost of the electric engine compared to a petrol engine amounts to around 11,000 euros. It is a lot in a category of cars sold around 18,000 to 20,000 euros with a petrol engine.

Rolling in the daily electric requires having a home recharge infrastructure where in its nearby environment (home proximity, workplace, large distribution, etc.))

The electric recharging infrastructure (62,136 public charging stations on May 31, 2022) remains insufficient and variable depending on the region.

To browse long distances, there are few fast recharges of 150 kW on road axes, apart from highways where they are now compulsory.

Recharge on public limits is still complicated due to the multitude of operators, the need to have a subscription and the number of charging stations unusable. Recharge is a complex technical process.

The autonomy of the electric car is still limited. The most expensive electric cars are generally struggling to exceed a theoretical autonomy of 500 kilometers.

There is no doubt that battery technology will continue to record significant progress in terms of autonomy and recharge in the coming years. On the one hand, car manufacturers and equipment manufacturers have no other choice due to the future prohibition for the sale of thermal engine vehicles, on the other, they are almost assured of the investments made in Electric technology.

It is probably too early to buy an electric vehicle in 2022 in order to keep the electric vehicle over a long period more than 10 years. Although it depends on the type of financing chosen. Rolling in 2022 in an electric city car as part of a long -term rental or rental with purchase option for 4 to 5 years has little risk.

In 2010, the Electric PEUGEOT ION mini-city (at a catalog price of 35,350 euros) offered autonomy in the European standard CYCLE NEDC of 150 kilometers.

In 2020, the Peugeot E-208 city dweller (at the catalog price of 32,100 euros) offers autonomy in the European standard Cycle NEDC of 450 kilometers.

The speed of technological innovation of electrical motorization has led to an autonomy multiplied by 3 over a period of 10 years.

This Spectacular rhythm of the technical progress of the electric car will not continue forever, but a significant drop in the sale price making the versatile electric car a popular car is in sight within about 5 years.

Over a shorter period, the pace of technology progress is even more spectacular. It affects battery life and the battery recharging time.

In 2011, the Nissan Leaf was sold at a price of 35,990 euros with a range of 175 km according to NEDC standard. A twelve -hour recharge on a standard socket made it possible to travel 175 km.

In 2019, the Nissan Leaf (40 kWh 150 hp version) was sold at a price of 36,400 euros with WLTP autonomy of 270 km. The lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 40 kWh recharges in 21 hours on a 220V domestic socket or in 7 hours on a 6.6 kW socket on a wallbox 32a. On a 50 kWh fast charging charging terminal, you need 40 minutes on the electric Leaf battery to have 80% of its capacity. The Nissan Leaf receives as standard on all versions a 6.6 kW charger, a 6 -meter cable for recharging on a 220V domestic outlet and a 32A cable of 6 meters for recharging on a wallbox 32a.

As well as the implementation of a dense rapid charging infrastructure, a significant effective drop in the speed of the recharge and multi-operator recharging terminals allowing “Connect and Pay” type use and payment of the load With a current payment method.

According to specialists in the electronic sector, “power electronics” will experience a major technological revolution with performance of the electric vehicle breaking: evolution of electronic components, better energy management, reduction of batteries and increase in their autonomy.

Before 2025, dispose of an electric vehicle that cannot offer all these features seems premature, unless you want to be part of the “early adopters”.

The trigger for the passage to electricity being regulatory (prohibition of circulation of petrol vehicles in metropolises from 2030), there is no need to be ahead of the effective implementation of the regulation of Low emissions.

It will just be a question of buying an electric vehicle with actual autonomy of more than 500 kilometers and with a fast charger of 150 kW at the price of a thermal vehicle before 2030.

Image by David Roumanet from Pixabay

Eric Houguet, written on 07/04/2022