Over 90 percent of all new cars are equipped with air conditioning systems. They provide pleasant indoor temperatures and can enhance driving safety, especially in the summer. What most drivers do not know: The currently used refrigerant is extremely harmful to the climate. And for another reason air conditiong systems are anything but environmentally-friendly: MAC systems are powered by the engine and increase the vehicles’ fuel consumption by up to 2 litre per 100 km.
Discussion about future refrigerants
From January 2017, MAC systems of all new passenger cars must be equipped with a more environmentally-friendly refrigerant. Up to now, car industry has been implementing the EU requirements with the synthetical refrigerant R1234yf that proved to be dangerous in many tests. Already by early 2016, more than 700.000 cars in Germany were equippd with the flammable chemical.
But there is also positive news: The natural refrigerant CO2 is already used in more than 100 buses and first car makers use the climate-friendly alternative in luxury class cars.