German car industry calls for moratorium on MAC directive

摘要

The German car manufacturers' association, VDA, has called on the EU for more time to find a replacement for R134a in car air conditioning systems. Talking to the German website Auto Motor and Sport, Ulrich Eichhorn, the VDA's European technical and environmental manager, called for at least another six-month moratorium to come up with a low GWP solution to comply with the MAC directive. The European car industry had already been granted a moratorium on the directive to January 1, 2013, after delays in supplies of the industry's preferred option, the new HFO R1234yf. Despite being cleared by safety organisations, recent crash tests by Daimler prompted the German luxury car manufacturer to declare it would not use the new refrigerant on the grounds of its flammability.