Diesel emissions scandal

From 2014 onwards, software which manipulated air pollution tests was discovered in vehicles from some car makers; the software recognized when the standardized emissions test was being done, and adjusted the engine to emit less pollutants during the test in order to pass regulatory benchmarks. The cars emitted much higher levels of pollution under real-world driving conditions. Some cars' emissions were higher even though there was no manipulated software.

Scandals relating to higher-than-reported emissions from diesel engines began in 2014 when the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reported discrepancies between European and US models of vehicles.[2] This began with the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Independent tests carried out by the German car club ADAC proved that, under normal driving conditions, diesel vehicles including the Volvo S60, Renault's Espace Energy and the Jeep Renegade, exceeded legal European emission limits for nitrogen oxide by more than 10 times. ICCT and ADAC showed the biggest deviations from Volvo, Renault, Jeep, Hyundai, Citroën, and Fiat.[3]

Researchers have criticized the inadequacy of current regulations and called for the use of a UN-sanctioned test called Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedures that better reflects real-life driving conditions. The test only came into force in 2017, with critics saying that car firms lobbied fiercely to delay its implementation due to the high cost of meeting stricter environmental controls.[4]

Conservative Internal Market spokesman Daniel Dalton,[6] who led the legislation through the European Parliament, described the previous regulations as "at best patchy and at worst ineffective". He further said that his latest 2018 report introduced a strong and transparent system to ensure cars are safe and meet emissions standards. Since 2016, 38 out of 40 diesel cars tested by ADAC failed a -test.[7]

Background

Early in the 1950s, scientists discovered that vehicle emissions were a significant factor that had been causing the air quality to deteriorate.[8] This led to the introduction of vehicle emissions standards in California in 1966, furthermore due to the seriousness of the problem, in 1970 the Clean Air Act was introduced in order to regulate these standards all over the United States.[8] Eventually, other countries including European Nations, Australia, Japan and India followed suit. The United States as well as the other countries who followed were quick to act since vehicle emissions became a public health risk.[9] The introduction of these emission standards produced satisfying results, from 1975 to 1996 carbon emissions dropped 76.3% of the initial levels in 1975.[9] Correspondingly, studies estimate that the introduction of these policies averted 19,008 deaths from 1975 to 1996.[9]

Manufacturers

Previous defeat device cases

The Volkswagen TDI diesel emissions case is not the first use of defeat devices by Volkswagen or other automakers nor the first time automakers have taken advantage of their foreknowledge of the specific lab test conditions in order to engage emissions controls only during testing, but not during normal driving. In 1973, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen had to remove ambient temperature switches which affected emissions, though the companies denied intentional cheating and said that strategies like enriching fuel mixture during cold engine warm-up periods could reduce overall pollution. The switches were ordered to be removed from production but cars already on the road did not have to be recalled, and fines were relatively modest.

In 1996, GM had to pay a near-record fine of $11 million, and recall 470,000 vehicles, because of ECU software programmed to disengage emissions controls during conditions known to exist when the cars were not being lab tested by the EPA. The model year 1991–1995 Cadillacs were programmed to simply enrich the engine's fuel mixture, increasing carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (HC) pollution, any time the car's air conditioning or heater was turned on, since the testing protocol specified they would be off.

EU vehicle approval procedures

In May 2017, the 28 EU member states agreed to begin negotiations with EU institutions to revise the method of testing vehicle emissions towards real circumstances, with random testing of vehicles on the roads and fines for manufacturers who breach the rules.[70] Eben Moglen suggested in 2010 to make proprietary software source code in general accessible to the public, to curb cheating.[71][72]

See also

• Business action on climate change
• Diesel particulate filter
• Diesel exhaust fluid
• ExxonMobil climate change controversy
• Greenwashing
• NOx adsorber – a system to trap oxides of nitrogen used by Volkswagen "Clean Diesel" cars