Fuel Consumption Labelling
This page was last updated on 16th December 2022Responsibilities of Vehicle Manufacturers, Importers and Dealers
EU Directive 1999/94/EC requires new car fuel consumption and CO2 emissions data to be made freely available to consumers. Car dealers are required to display a label on (or near to) every new car displayed for sale. The label shows the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Fuel consumption figures are expressed both in litres per 100 kilometres (l/100 km) and in miles per gallon (mpg).
Car dealers often voluntarily display a colour coded ‘comparative’ label. That is, a label that shows both the mandatory fuel consumption and CO2 figures mentioned previously, as well as information about the appropriate tax band for the vehicle. The label is similar in design to the energy efficiency labels that appear on many ‘white goods’, such as fridge freezers. While only part of the label is currently mandatory, the DfT, VCA and vehicle manufacturers have worked hard to ensure that the label is harmonised throughout the market sector in order to support, simplify and inform consumer choice. A redesign of the label was launched in in April 2020 to include some additional information on Emission standards and Emission Zone compliance.
Note that the requirements for anyone displaying a car for sale or lease can be found in the legislation “The Passenger Car (Fuel consumption and CO2 Emissions Information) Regulations which first came into force on 21st November 2001 and implemented into UK law EU Directive (1999/94/EC). Since then, UK legislation has been subsequently updated by Statutory Instruments (SI) 2004 No. 1661; 2013 No. 65; and 2018 No. 673 (published June 2018).
VCA have created some guidance notes on the display and advertising of fuel consumption.
Additionally, we have provided some guidance for industry (2022) on how to populate the labels including the calculation of annual running costs.
There are three main types of label available at this time:
Please visit our Car Fuel Data site and choose the last option to “Download example Environmental labels in use from 1st April 2020 (last amended April 2022)”.
Click on that option to download PDF versions of the:
- Standard comparative label
- Pure electric label
- Plug-in Hybrid Electric label
