New cars in the UK are producing more carbon dioxide than older models

Cars account for just over 18 per cent of UK CO2 emissions according to government figures

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New cars being sold in the UK produce more carbon dioxide than older models according to new research from watchdog Which?.

The findings suggest the car industry is going backwards in tackling the climate crisis.

This is because although the cars use cleaner internal combustion engines, the move towards bigger and heavier models means average greenhouse emissions keep rising.

According to Which? the latest generation of cars produce 7 per cent more emissions than those manufactured to earlier standards.

The findings are based on 292 models released in the UK since 2017.

Overall, cars that met the latest emissions regulations produced 162.1g of CO2 per kilometre, which is 10.5g more than those in the previous generation, according to Which? researchers.

Lisa Barber, editor of Which? magazine, said: “It is shocking to see our tests uncover increasing levels of carbon dioxide emissions for the latest cars that are being built and sold to UK consumers.

“Manufacturers must ensure that they are doing everything in their power to create cleaner vehicles that are fitter for our planet and its future.”

The Which? analysis found carbon emissions were rising across every type of car, whether that was a smaller car or an SUV model as all are increasingly packed with technology and so are getting heavier.

A ban on the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars is to be brought forward by the government to 2035 – five years earlier than previously planned.

Experts said if the UK wanted to achieve its target of being carbon zero by 2050 then 2040 (the original date) would be too late to remove cars.

The ban is also being expanded to hybrid cars and plug-in hybrids, which had not been included under the original proposals.

Cars account for just over 18 per cent of UK emissions, according to government figures and when you account for all transport it is about one third of all CO2 emissions.