What do we see?
The average mass of cars seems to have increased over the years, reaching an average weight of 1,507kg in 2020. This means that from 2019 to 2020, the average mass increased by 5%. This rise could be due to the greater weight of alternative vehicles such as EVs. Another possible explanation could be the popularity of SUVs.
What’s the aim?
A circular economy prioritises the reduction of its material and carbon footprint. For this indicator, that would mean a decrease in car mass as this could point to a reduced impact of both the production and use phase – fuel consumption is also related to the mass of the car. In addition, we should carry out a broader analysis of the increase in average car mass due to – among other factors – the growing number of EVs, for which we would need to look at the complete lifecycle.
What does this indicator measure?
This indicator reports the average mass of new cars on the market in Flanders. We focus here on the new cars only as this will highlight the trends much more than if we look at the whole car fleet. The data for this indicator was obtained from Ecoscore, which is managed by VITO.
