Dieselgate: Car makers still cheating emissions tests

You might have thought the ignominy of the dieselgate scandal might have put an end to car makers cheating emissions tests. However, a report by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has discovered 'suspicious' NOx emission levels in 77%–100% of tests, indicating the likely use of a prohibited so-called 'defeat device'. Similar results were observed for government tests conducted under real-world conditions. Of even more concern is that results from independent real-world testing revealed up to 100% of vehicle models exceed the suspicious threshold.

The report also reveals 'extreme' NOx emissions in 40%–75% of tests, indicating that a prohibited defeat device is almost certainly present. Data shows around 75% of engine averages exceed the extreme threshold.

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A different report by transport lobby group T&E uncovered that some cars guzzle 56 per cent more fuel on the road than is claimed in the sales brochure.

Car emissions scandal

Fuel efficiency tests are carried out in laboratories and prone to extensive manipulation, but the researchers found that even when they took into account all test loopholes, as well as those clean technologies that perform better in the lab than on the road, it proved impossible to explain fuel efficiency gaps higher than 50 per cent. This raises the question of whether software is detecting when the car is being tested and artificially lowering the emissions during the test.

The research revealed most car brands have an average gap higher than 40 per cent, meaning a typical driver spends over £400 in additional fuel costs over the course of a year compared to what is stated in sales materials.

Greg Archer of T&E said: “There has been no improvement in the average efficiency of new cars on the road for four years because carmakers manipulate tests to achieve their CO2 targets instead of designing the car to be efficient on the road. As a result, drivers are being tricked and forced to buy more fuel; governments defrauded of tax revenues; and climate targets undermined.”

Cars are responsible for 15 per cent of Europe’s total CO2 emissions and are the single largest source of emissions in the transport sector. VW was castigated over its use of cheat devices, but the car emissions scandal is widespread - and far from over.

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