When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Looking ominous for all diesel engine manufacturers
Looking ominous for all diesel engine manufacturers :
Volkswagen emissions scandal: Which other cars fail to meet pollution safety limits?
As the car industry takes in news that Volkswagen rigged pollution tests, a transport group claims almost all diesel manufacturers breach pollution limits
Air pollution levels have not been falling in Britain even though the car industry claims that emissions have dropped
Every major car manufacturer is selling diesel cars that fail to meet EU air pollution limits, according to a report released this month.
While Volkswagen has made the headlines by admitting to rigging pollution tests with software in VW and Audi diesels, new figures reveal that nine out of 10 diesels breach emissions regulations.
Analysis from transport group Transport and Environment (T&E) claims that the worst culprits were Audi, Opel, BMW and Volkswagen.
An Audi was the worst car identified in the survey. It emitted levels of nitrous oxide that were 22 times the allowed EU limit.
Audi was one of the companies named in the pollution report
T&E claims that, on average, new European diesel cars produce emissions roughly five times higher than the EU limit.
Out of 23 vehicles it tested on the road, just three met the required standards.
It names four particular vehicles, which it claims all passed the factory test but had on-the-road emissions several times higher than the EU limit. [Audi A8, BMW X3, Opel Zafira Tourer, Citroen Picasso C4]
Under new European standards, the maximum level for NOx in diesel models is 80mg/km.
In a recent publication, T&E said that the gap was growing between on-the-road emissions and fuel consumption as measured on official tests.
This, it claimed, was down to unrealistic test conditions, a lack of transparency and a number of loopholes in testing protocols.
Volkswagon has set aside €6.5bn to cover the costs of its "screw up", as the company admitted that 11 million cars were fitted with pollution cheating software.
Diesel vehicles are a significant presence on Europe's roads - with Europe accounting for three quarters of 2014's diesel car sales.
They emit more toxic particles than their petrol counterparts, leading to concern over their threat to human and environmental health.
Air pollution is estimated to cause 30,000 deaths each year in Britain. A toxic gas called nitrous oxide is partly to blame, which causes smog, respiratory illness and heart and lung disease.
T&E, the authors of the report, concluded that: "As a consequence of this and emissions from diesel machines, much urban air in Europe is not fit to breathe. The high levels of particles, nitrogen oxides and unburned fuel create a cocktail of harmful pollution.
"The effects are half a million premature deaths each year; a quarter of a million hospital admissions; and 100 million lost working days cumulatively costing over €900 billion."
Say what you will of our environmental regulations but man am I glad I don't have to wear a mask on the days the pollution index hits hazardous levels. As was the case in HK, Kids have to stay home from schools because of it. This happened just this last week in Hong Kong. Crazy. So I hope VW gets hammered as well as anyone else caught cheating.
trying to reconcile spwolf saying eu test is a joke and vw/audi and others apparently still can't pass it.
Yes, but the fact that every car passes the test during laboratory test, but fails on every " on the-road-test" indicates that one of them is very wrong. There is nothing wrong with the Euro 6 standrad itself, the problem is under what circumstances you are allowed to reach it.
trying to reconcile spwolf saying eu test is a joke and vw/audi and others apparently still can't pass it.
they all passed it. it is impossible to pass it outside the lab though - just consider that our 52 MPG cars get 37 MPG rating by EPA, while our Euro ratings should be stricter because we have more traffic/stops in the city and drive 90-100mph on the highway.
Yes, but the fact that every car passes the test during laboratory test, but fails on every " on the-road-test" indicates that one of them is very wrong. There is nothing wrong with the Euro 6 standrad itself, the problem is under what circumstances you are allowed to reach it.
lets also keep in mind that EPA is 6x stricter on NOx than Euro VI. Some 12mg/km vs 80mg/km. This is why SCR is mandatory in US to pass the test while not in the EU.
I am reading in some euro media how much more advanced Euro testing is compared to USA, and how much more advanced our engines are, I just wonder with google, how can they be so poorly informed? Must be on purpose.
I am reading in some euro media how much more advanced Euro testing is compared to USA, and how much more advanced our engines are, I just wonder with google, how can they be so poorly informed? Must be on purpose.
I think that the major problem here is that europeans only focus on CO2 levels, 90% of the climate debate in public media is about CO2 only, and the second one is probably the fear of nuclear power in some countries. That is also the explanation of the diesel-boom here, it has nothing to with that people really prefer small tractor diesels in their 4-50 000 euro luxury cars.
I think that the major problem here is that europeans only focus on CO2 levels, 90% of the climate debate in public media is about CO2 only, and the second one is probably the fear of nuclear power in some countries. That is also the explanation of the diesel-boom here, it has nothing to with that people really prefer small tractor diesels in their 4-50 000 euro luxury cars.
i guess they are looking at it this way - OMG, our BMW gets 70 MPG but US BMW gets 30 mpg, ours is so much better :-)
Doesnt explain British minister of transportation saying that they are confident nobody can game British tests... is he that naive and uninformed or is he lying on purpose? Does his car get 80 MPG average?
they all passed it. it is impossible to pass it outside the lab though - just consider that our 52 MPG cars get 37 MPG rating by EPA, while our Euro ratings should be stricter because we have more traffic/stops in the city and drive 90-100mph on the highway.
EPA rating is relatively new as well, I think about 10 years ago we had a different rating standard in USA, and many cars had significantly higher mpg and power rating than they have now. With EPA test many cars went from mid 40mpg to low 30mpg and some cars even went down in rated horse power levels as well.
For example, 2005 Civic was rated at 36 city, 44 highway but 2008 civic is rated at 26 city, 34 highway.
From the Business section of this morning's paper:
"In 1998 several large diesel engine makers - including Caterpillar, Navistar and Cummins settled Justice Department and EPA allegations that they violated the Clean Air Act by adding software that altered their engines' pollution controls under highway driving conditions. The EPA said at the time that the defeat device allows :engines to meet EPS (nitrogen oxide) emission standards during testing but disable the emission control systems during normal highway driving.". "Talk about deja vu."
From the Business section of this morning's paper:
"In 1998 several large diesel engine makers - including Caterpillar, Navistar and Cummins settled Justice Department and EPA allegations that they violated the Clean Air Act by adding software that altered their engines' pollution controls under highway driving conditions. The EPA said at the time that the defeat device allows :engines to meet EPS (nitrogen oxide) emission standards during testing but disable the emission control systems during normal highway driving.". "Talk about deja vu."
Yes, and at least one of these manufacturers has commented that VW should get hammered for not learning from this earlier example. I agree. Cheating on a standard that has enforcement precedent is flagrant violation. Add to that VW was cited in the 70s and when EPA first investigated the issue, VW has been reported to use deceptive practices causing the EPA to conduct additional tests at the expense of the US taxpayer. I can't think of any mitigating circumstance for VWs actions. They used a computer program designed to cheat to market a vehicle they claimed was a "green" car when compared to their competition. In fact, it's their claims that caused them to be uncovered by the WVU study.
Diesel lobby in Europe is quite powerful so whole CO2 thing is just the perfect deception. European manufacturers invested billions into diesel tech well before any pollution consciousness caught up and by the time it did there was no way to improve diesel emissions to match gasoline.
Whole this VW is a great scandal but what's a real horror story is every diesel sold falls apart once it reaches 100,000-150,000km At that point any DPF, EGR, you name it, is simply done and it allows the car to emit horrendous amount of exhaust gases. Even the car itself suffers as it gets clogged with sludge and therefore efficiency drops down quite drastically. In other word go ahead and buy BMW Ultra diesel which claims 4l per 100km consumption, yeah that's great but keep in mind two things: It can achieve this efficiency only due to laid back emissions regulations and it remains true for the first 50,000km. After that it gradually consumes more and more as the km rack up.
EPA rating is relatively new as well, I think about 10 years ago we had a different rating standard in USA, and many cars had significantly higher mpg and power rating than they have now. With EPA test many cars went from mid 40mpg to low 30mpg and some cars even went down in rated horse power levels as well.
For example, 2005 Civic was rated at 36 city, 44 highway but 2008 civic is rated at 26 city, 34 highway.
I think EPA changed its tests for higher speeds, AC use, and other things in 2009... Current NEDC test (EU) is from 90's.
09-26-15, 04:49 PM
Looking ominous for all diesel engine manufacturers
