Honda has joined Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) in efforts to avoid EU emissions fines by pooling its fleet with Tesla this year.
Revealed in a European Commission filing from last week, it's the latest company to declare its intent to join together with another manufacturer to help meet the tough 95g/km fleet average CO2 target and avoid hefty fines.
Rules dictate that companies that have earned a high number of emissions credits (supercredits) for selling low-CO2 models, such as EVs, may sell them on to others struggling to meet their CO2 targets. Pooling these credits allows car makers to count their combined fleets as one.
It's reported that Tesla has made more than $1.4 billion (£1.08bn) between 2016 and 2018 by selling these credits to other US manufacturers. FCA avoided billions in fines by spending hundreds of millions to join Tesla's EU pool and now Honda is doing the same - although a figure is yet to be disclosed.
The European Commission document suggests that Honda has registered only around 1000 examples of its E electric supermini in Western Europe since it was introduced earlier this year. That figure isn't enough to generate enough supercredits for Honda to avoid EU fines.
Last week, Ford announced plans to form a CO2 pool with Volvo and Polestar to avoid fines. Toyota and Mazda are expected to do similar, while Renault has opened up its CO2 pool to other manufacturers. Meanwhile, the Volkswagen Group has joined forces with SAIC and its subsidiary, MG.
