Emissions standard
Euro 3
Checked on 13 October 1998.EUR-Lex, Directive 98/69/EC, table at section 5.3.1.4: Euro 3 (row A) and Euro 4 (row B) limit values (as of 13 October 1998)
Euro 3 clean air zone status
Charged
A petrol car at Euro 3 is below the Euro 4 pass mark, so it pays the daily charge.
Charged
A diesel at Euro 3 is below the Euro 6 pass mark, so it pays the daily charge.
What is Euro 3?
Euro 3 is a stage of European vehicle pollutant limits. The stage that separated nitrogen oxides from hydrocarbons on petrol, so a limit could be set on each. It also removed the engine warm up period from the test, which made a cold start count for the first time. This is the standard most 2001 to 2005 cars hold, and it is the one that fails a London ULEZ check on a petrol car.
Euro 3 limits, in g/km
| Pollutant | Petrol | Diesel | Change from Euro 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 2.3 | 0.64 | 36 per cent lower on diesel |
| Hydrocarbons (HC) | 0.2 | No limit set | |
| Hydrocarbons and NOx combined | No limit set | 0.56 | 20 per cent lower on diesel |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | 0.15 | 0.5 | New at this stage |
| Particulate matter (PM) | No limit set | 0.05 | 38 per cent lower on diesel |
Which cars had to meet Euro 3
Euro 3 applied to new passenger car type approvals from 1 January 2000 and to new registrations from 1 January 2001. From that 2001 date a new car in this timetable could not be registered below Euro 3. Directive 98/69/EC published Euro 3 as row A of the same table that later published Euro 4 as row B.
This is the stage most cars first registered from 2001 to 2005 hold, unless the manufacturer certified Euro 4 early. It is also the stage that fails a London ULEZ check on a petrol car. A petrol car at Euro 3 is below Euro 4, and Euro 4 is the petrol pass mark every UK charging zone that reaches cars uses.
Diesel at Euro 3 is further still from a free pass. Zones ask Euro 6 of a diesel car. Euro 3 diesel nitrogen oxides are 0.5 g/km, against 0.08 g/km at Euro 6.
Petrol nitrogen oxides get their own limit
Euro 3 is the first stage that separates nitrogen oxides from hydrocarbons on petrol. Petrol carbon monoxide is 2.3 g/km, hydrocarbons 0.2 g/km and nitrogen oxides 0.15 g/km. There is no combined petrol column at this stage, because the two pollutants are no longer added together.
Diesel keeps a combined hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide figure of 0.56 g/km, and also gains a separate diesel nitrogen oxide limit of 0.5 g/km. Diesel carbon monoxide is 0.64 g/km. Diesel particulates are 0.05 g/km, down from 0.08 g/km at Euro 2, or from 0.10 g/km on the direct injection derogation that had already ended.
The test itself changed. Euro 3 removed the engine warm up period, so a cold start counted for the first time. That is a laboratory change, not a roadside one, but it is why a Euro 3 limit is not simply a tighter Euro 2 limit on the same cycle.
- Petrol: carbon monoxide 2.3 g/km, hydrocarbons 0.2 g/km, nitrogen oxides 0.15 g/km. No combined figure.
- Diesel: carbon monoxide 0.64 g/km, combined hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides 0.56 g/km, nitrogen oxides 0.5 g/km, particulates 0.05 g/km.
- Petrol still has no particulate limit. That wait continues until Euro 5, and then only for direct injection.
The 2001 to 2005 petrol cars that now fail the ULEZ
A petrol family hatchback or small saloon first registered new between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2005 is the typical Euro 3 car still in daily use. It can look no different from an early Euro 4 petrol car of 2006. The zone does not care how it looks. It cares what V.9 says, or what the first registration date infers when V.9 is blank.
A 2005 petrol car is the dangerous year for a buyer. Type approval for Euro 4 starts on 1 January 2005, so some 2005 petrol cars hold Euro 4 early. Compulsory new registrations stay on Euro 3 until 1 January 2006. Treating every 2005 petrol as a ULEZ pass is the mistake Transport for London's after 2005 wording exists to avoid.
Euro 3 petrol fails the ULEZ and every other car zone
A Euro 3 petrol car does not meet Euro 4. It pays in the London ULEZ, in the English clean air zones that charge cars, and in the Scottish low emission zones, which use the same petrol Euro 4 and diesel Euro 6 pair. A Euro 3 diesel fails as well, because diesel needs Euro 6.
Scottish low emission zones do not offer a daily charge as a way to enter. A non compliant car is not allowed in, and the first camera capture is a penalty. That is a different enforcement model from London's £12.50 ULEZ day, but the Euro 3 petrol result is the same: the car does not meet the standard.
Example
A petrol car first registered on 15 June 2004, V.9 blank
- Fuel
- Petrol
- First registered
- 15 June 2004
- V5C entry V.9
- Blank
- Euro 3 new registrations from
- 1 January 2001
- Euro 4 new registrations from
- 1 January 2006
- 15 June 2004 is after 1 January 2001, so a new petrol car could not be registered below Euro 3.
- It is before 1 January 2006, so the date does not prove Euro 4.
- Petrol nitrogen oxides at Euro 3 are 0.15 g/km. At Euro 4 they are 0.08 g/km. The zone does not retest either figure; it reads the stage.
- Euro 3 is below the petrol pass mark of Euro 4, so the car pays in the ULEZ and in every other charging zone that reaches petrol cars.
Infer Euro 3 from the date, confirm it on V.9 or the certificate of conformity if you can, and budget for the daily charge. A 2004 petrol year is not a ULEZ pass.
How to prove Euro 3, and why that proof still charges you
You still prove the stage the same way: V.9, the DVLA vehicle enquiry, then the certificate of conformity if the record is blank or you think the car was certified to Euro 4 early. For a June 2004 petrol the early certification route is the only way off the charge, and it has to be on the paper, not in the seller's description.
If the zone has you as Euro 3 and you agree, there is nothing to correct. Pay the day you drive in, or stay out. Challenging a correctly recorded Euro 3 petrol as if it were Euro 4 wastes the penalty deadline.
- Read V.9. If it says Euro 3, the ULEZ will charge a petrol car and every diesel zone will charge a diesel.
- If V.9 is blank, a first registration from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005 infers Euro 3 for a new car.
- If you believe the car is Euro 4, only the certificate of conformity proves an early type approval.
- Send that certificate to Transport for London or to the English or Scottish authority that charged you.
- Keep the penalty challenge on its own clock. Fixing V.9 later does not automatically cancel a notice already issued.
2005 petrol imports and a missing V.9
A 2005 petrol import is the classic blank V.9 case. The UK first registration date may be 2005, 2006 or later, depending on when it was plated here, while the type approval date on the certificate of conformity may already be Euro 4 from 1 January 2005. Inferring Euro 3 from a 2005 UK plate can therefore be unfair, and it can also be correct. Only the certificate chooses.
A Q plated rebuild from this era still cannot be dated from the mark. Without V.9 and without a certificate of conformity, a zone has no Euro 4 petrol pass to apply. This site will not invent one for a kit car.
- Cold start in the Euro 3 test is a laboratory change. It is not something a zone re-runs at the camera.
- Motorcycle Euro 3 in the London ULEZ is a different standard with different dates. Do not use 1 January 2001 for a motorcycle.
- Wales and Northern Ireland have no charging zone in this site's clean air zone dataset, so a Euro 3 petrol car is not charged there for want of a scheme, not because Euro 3 passes.
Common questions
- When did Euro 3 become compulsory for new cars?
- New type approvals from 1 January 2000, and new passenger car registrations from 1 January 2001. Cars first registered new from that 2001 date had to meet Euro 3.
- Does a Euro 3 petrol car fail the London ULEZ?
- Yes. The petrol pass mark is Euro 4. Euro 3 petrol is below it, so the car pays the ULEZ daily charge and the same petrol test in every other UK zone that charges cars.
- Does a Euro 3 diesel fail as well?
- Yes. Diesel needs Euro 6. Euro 3 diesel nitrogen oxides are 0.5 g/km in the type approval table, against 0.08 g/km at Euro 6, but the zone reads the stage number rather than retesting those figures.
- Why did petrol carbon monoxide rise from Euro 2 to Euro 3?
- The published petrol carbon monoxide limit is 2.2 g/km at Euro 2 and 2.3 g/km at Euro 3. The test also dropped the warm up period, so a cold start counted. The figures are not a like for like cut on an unchanged cycle, which is why this page prints both rather than calling Euro 3 a cut on carbon monoxide.
- Is a 2005 petrol car Euro 3 or Euro 4?
- It depends. Euro 4 type approval starts on 1 January 2005, but new registrations only had to meet Euro 4 from 1 January 2006. A 2005 petrol car can be either stage. V.9 or the certificate of conformity is the proof. The year 2005 is not.
- What did removing the warm up period change?
- A cold start counted in the laboratory cycle for the first time. That is why Euro 3 is not only a new set of numbers on the same test. It does not change how a zone camera works.
- Can I retrofit a Euro 3 petrol car to pass the ULEZ?
- Not by any approved private car route published on this site. Zones read the recorded Euro stage. A new catalyst does not rewrite V.9 from Euro 3 to Euro 4.
- Is Euro 3 the motorcycle ULEZ standard?
- London's ULEZ asks Euro 3 of a motorcycle, which is a different vehicle category with different dates. TfL's guidance is that Euro 3 motorcycles are generally those registered with the DVLA after July 2007. That July 2007 rule of thumb is not the passenger car date of 1 January 2001.