According to the evaluation results of 162 models, eight trends of air in the car were found in the evaluation of CAIC
With the advent of midsummer, the temperature is rising. In the high temperature environment, the temperature inside the vehicle rises sharply, which may be accompanied by the emission of various odors and harmful substances, posing a potential threat to the health of drivers and passengers. How to ensure the quality and health of air in vehicles has become a common topic for consumers and the automotive industry.
On June 18, the first press conference of the 2024 China Automobile Evaluation was held in Beijing. At the meeting, the special technical hot issue of "2024 Insight into the Status Quo of Air Quality in Passenger Cars in China" was released by AVIC Test&Evaluation, which comprehensively summarized the new findings of the current air quality evaluation in passenger cars in China, put forward optimization suggestions to the vehicle enterprises, and demonstrated the achievements of years of efforts of AVIC Test&Evaluation in the field of vehicle health performance evaluation, It also shows its unremitting efforts to improve consumers' healthy travel experience.
Eight Findings of Interior Environment Assessment of 162 Models
This special issue shows that since 2012, CAIC Evaluation has adhered to the responsibility of the "national team of automobile evaluation", adhered to the original intention of "testing for the people", and guided by consumers' demand for healthy travel, continued to organize the evaluation of automobile health performance, and successively carried out C-ECAP CCRT, C-GCAP and other evaluation projects, focusing on volatile organic compounds (VOC) and in car odor intensity test indicators, have completed the in car air quality evaluation of 162 models during 2018-2024. The evaluation samples cover the mainstream automotive products in the Chinese market in recent years, and basically achieve full coverage in brand types, price distribution, and vehicle types, Based on this, eight development trends are summarized.
Discovery 1: From catching up to leading, the air quality in self owned brand cars has improved significantly. The evaluation results show that the air quality in the car of all series models has improved to some extent in the past 7 years, with an average increase rate of 6.47%. It is worth noting that since the epidemic, the scores of self owned brand models have overtaken those of German, Japanese and other joint venture brands, and continue to lead the way. They have become part of the global camp of indoor air health, with an overall score of 2.2% higher than that of joint venture brands.
Discovery 2: The health performance has gone from high-end to civilian, and the performance of 150000-200000 interval models is eye-catching. The evaluation results found that the air quality in the car of models in each price range has been effectively improved in recent years. Excellent interior environment is no longer synonymous with high configuration and high grade. The average score rate of models in the price range of 150000 to 200000 is higher than that of models in other price ranges, which means that "high price ≠ good air quality in the car".
Discovery 3: Electric vehicles have outstanding performance, and the intelligent function loading effect is significant. After the rise of electric vehicles, the performance of the air inside the vehicle is excellent and continues to lead. The evaluation results show that the overall performance of electric vehicles is better than that of fuel vehicles, with an average score leading by about 1.4%. Most electric vehicles are equipped with active health systems, which can effectively improve and optimize the level of air quality in the vehicle.
Discovery 4: Although the medium and large SUVs and MPVs are large and use more materials, the air quality control is good. Medium and large SUVs and MPVs tend to be used at home and are equipped with better ventilation and air purification systems. The evaluation results confirmed the positive effect of the corresponding configuration. The air quality level in the middle and large SUVs and MPVs was significant, leading the score by about 1.6%.
Discovery 5: The performance of the normal temperature scene of the air in the car has improved year by year, while the high temperature scene is still a pain point. The overall performance of normal temperature VOC is on the rise year by year, and the overall score rate in 2024 is about 5.9% higher than that in 2018. However, compared with the high temperature/normal temperature VOC data, the high temperature VOC score decreased by 7.6 points on average, and from the data level, the improvement of the high temperature VOC in the car in the past five years was relatively general, with no significant increase.
It was found that six: pentaphenyltrialdehyde concentration control was obviously emphasized, benzene optimization was obvious, and aldehydes still needed to be improved. Pentaerialdehyde is regarded as the "invisible killer" of the air in vehicles, and vehicle enterprises have made continuous efforts to reduce the content of volatile substances such as Pentaerialdehyde. The evaluation results confirm that the efforts of automobile enterprises have achieved remarkable results. The average concentration of pentaphenyltrialdehyde has decreased year by year. Among them, the concentration of benzene compounds has improved significantly. Compared with 2018, the concentration of benzene compounds in vehicles in 2024 has decreased by 68.8% on average. It should be noted that formaldehyde is still the key issue that needs to be focused on.
Discovery 7: High temperature is the "catalyst" for accelerating indoor formaldehyde volatilization, and air conditioning is an ideal means to reduce formaldehyde 。 The evaluation results showed that the average formaldehyde release concentration in the vehicle was 0.056 mg/m3 under high temperature environment, which was 1.5-6.7 times higher than that under normal temperature environment, with an average increase of 3.32 times. Turning on the air conditioner can effectively reduce the concentration of harmful gases in the vehicle. The air conditioning purification capacity of different models varies greatly. The purification efficiency ranges from 5% to 84%. The average air conditioning purification efficiency is 57.5%, and the maximum purification efficiency can be 16 times worse.
Discovery 8: The odor level in the car is mainly at 3.0-3.5 level, and the high-temperature odor needs to be focused 。 The evaluation results show that the indoor odor level of mainstream passenger cars at room temperature is concentrated at 3.0-3.5 levels. The proportion of the indoor odor level of the vehicle models evaluated at room temperature in 2018-2023 is increasing year by year. The intensity of the odor in the vehicle at high temperature has deteriorated significantly. Since the high-temperature odor evaluation was started in 2021, the indoor odor at high temperature has received significant attention, but the improvement of the high-temperature odor is not obvious.
In view of the summary and analysis of the evaluation data, from the perspective of a third-party authoritative professional organization, CNIC Evaluation gave a summary and suggestions. First, it continued to maintain the excellent performance of the normal temperature scene. From the perspective of materials and design, it optimized the performance of aldehydes in the air inside the vehicle, while maintaining the low concentration level of benzene series. The second is to pay attention to the phenomenon that the air in the car gets worse in the high-temperature scene, strengthen the use of environmentally friendly materials, and reduce the VOC concentration in the car when the car leaves the factory. The third is to strengthen the air purification performance of vehicle air conditioners, equip appropriate filter elements, and improve the use frequency of vehicle active purification, automatic ventilation and other functions.
Facing the future, the technical route of vehicle interior environment evaluation keeps pace with the times
In the trend of promoting automobile quality consumption, it has become an important issue for automobile enterprises to continuously improve the health and environmental protection performance of the interior environment. At the same time, with the continuous enhancement of health awareness, consumers' attention to the interior environment has significantly increased.
In order to better guide the automotive industry to improve the quality of the interior environment, and provide authoritative reference for consumers to select green cars, the evaluation system of China Automotive Group Co., Ltd. is based on professionalism, strengthening guidance, highlighting foresight, building an in car health evaluation system from the two levels of passive health and active health, and optimizing the health strategy of the vehicle itself Improve purification management and control means to guide technological development.
According to the C-GCAP health assessment system planning, CAIC Assessment will improve the assessment dimensions of in car health, pay attention to the comprehensive assessment of multi scene and multi category hazardous substances, focus on the performance of materials, and subdivide the impact of different hazardous substances on human health such as carcinogenesis and sensitization. In addition, in the context of the rapid development of intelligent technology, CAVC encourages the application of active purification, antibacterial function and other vehicle interior environment optimization technologies, including intelligent purification, antibacterial, fragrance purification and other technologies.
Healthy travel is not only related to the life and health of consumers, but also the cornerstone of the sustainable development of the automobile industry. Based on the present and looking forward to the future, CAIC Evaluation will always adhere to the original intention of "testing for the people", according to the C-GCAP health evaluation system planning, continuously improve the evaluation technology, promote the innovation and progress of vehicle health technology, and bring consumers a better travel experience.
