As a pilot program, on November 20-th, 2009, it was organized at a very small scale an Eco Rest in Bucharest, Romania. This first try with some local celebrities – including the multi Olimpic champion for canoe, the late Ivan Patzaichin and the famous gymnastics coach Octavian Bellu- proved the validity of the concept. Even on a very small scale, the Eco Test was well regarded by the consumers as a reference for the reality of driving.
In 2009 AUTOBEST launched ECOBEST Challenge project, as a world’s first project for measurements of consumption, CO2 emissions, pollutants and micro particles. ECOBEST Challenge was launched years before Diesel gate scandal, with the aim to give consumer real data in real life traffic.
