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Reports: Volkswagen Was Warned of Emissions Cheating Years Ago
An anonymous reader writes: More fuel was thrown on the Volkswagen fire today after two German newspapers reported that Volkswagen's own staff and one of its suppliers warned years ago about software designed to thwart emissions test. Volkswagen declined to comment on the details of either newspaper report. "There are serious investigations underway and the focus is now also on technical solutions" for customers and dealers, a Volkswagen spokesman said. "As soon as we have reliable facts we will be able to give answers."
Before this becomes Naci bashing thing, just some facts:
-> this cars are probably illegal only in the USA (where they should conform to almost the same standard as EURO 6) in EU they are declared to be EURO 5
-> it looks like this motors are only a bit off in the laboratory test (they are almost EURO 6 - but not without the cheat)
-> in real life all cars produce more exhausts as allowed => problem is in the testing procedure which should be fixed (see reports bellow)
-> EURO 6 from VW is fine (see http://www.theicct.org/nox-control-technologies-euro-6-diesel-passenger-cars) as other German manufacturers, but some others have problems.
And nobody is talking about the elephant in the room (http://www.theicct.org/laboratory-road-2015-update), especially look at the page 6, Figure 5. for hybrids... What a joke...
But in the end it is again a stupid bean counter who caused all this as he did not allow SCR system for cars in the USA which would cost 300 € per car... So to save 150M they will spend 7B. Nice work!
The share holders end up paying for this mess and the share holders never had a clue. Meanwhile the typical manager or executive who was responsible has probably already sold off their shares and are beyond punishment. Seriously when will people get the point that corporations exist in order to avoid responsibility. Doesn't the term LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) declare upfront the intent to not be liable or responsible?
Whenever something bad happens - 9/11, Challenger, Katrina, Bill Crosby, SUV rollovers, every president, Deepwater Horizon - someone will selflessly step forward and say "I knew it was going to happen, I warned you, but nobody would listen!"
Next time a screw-up is in the news, pay attention and wait for the inevitable soothsayer.
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
Capitalists always overestimate the socialist influence when the issue in question is a symptom of something wrong with capitalism, which this situation is.
Short term profits at any cost at all, including extra pollution, lying, deception. The surprise isn't that they did it, it's that other corporate misdeeds aren't published to this extent.
Every since emissions began to be implemented cheating to bypass them has gone on. From the "test pipe" for catalytic converters to chips that basically fool the system into adding more fuel thus making horsepower or putting custom pipe in place a emissions. Today with VW it simply proves a gradual technical step in trying to get around emissions. I think its clear rather then just simply lightning regulations and testing procedures. We need to be asking how can we make sure almost everyone can accept and meet these regulations? We have countries that have no regulations and frankly you see many car makers more happy to build and sell there. The consumer might be benefitting from cleaner air but also burning more fuel, spending more on autos and repairs and simply choosing not to repair emission related parts. I worked in the automotive repair industry for 15 years. Many owners don't care to repair stuff that actually makes their car run worse.
In the 80's it was not uncommon for me to find people had EGR valves removed or bypassed, catalytic converters removed, those lousy air pumps, and let's not forget the so called electronic carburetors. The only guilt VW has is that it discovered a easy way to simply tweak software to know when it was being tested. We are treated this worse then a safety issue where people died. Why is it that a little more smog makes VW evil? I mean diesel is not even a popular engine option in the US for autos. Its going to be a quick software update, pay a huge fine for governments basically a tax and everyone will go back to "fixing" their engines to run right.
If you just watch Autoline After Hours 303 (if you're not interested, you can skip all the stuff about the Honda unibody and jump to after the break) you'll hear that the EPA was warning automakers about the illegality of "defeat devices" (terminology which covers device or code) for gaming the emissions tests in the seventies. This is so far from being a new idea, it's not even funny.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Really, the driveway, my 6.7L turbocharged Scoprion diesel engine just got 22mph heading to and from Duluth and the twin cities. And all with with no black soot what so ever in the tail pipe, looks just like the day I bought it, shiny new metal inside the exhaust.
As compared to 50-60 miles per gallon on a euroweeny? Yes the euroweeny diesel made a tiny amount more smoke and oxides of N. BUT THE FUCKING GAS HOG MONSTER TRUCK ENGINE JUST PUT a butt tonne more carbon dioxide per mile driven into the atmosphere so fuck off with the gas guzzling bullshit. Move to California and watch it burn, send your dollars to the oil industry and then complain when Bush the Third gets into power and the price of oil goes through the roof again. Short sighted bunch of fucking morons that can't see the forest for the trees. In fact they couldn't care less about the decline of Western Red Cedar happening all alone the west coast of North America. And the steady decline in the West Coast fisheries the severe drought that will eventually hurt the entire rain cycle of the entire Rockie Mountain and Coast Ranges.
Total and complete environmentally stupid morons piled on with more completely ignorant blind and stupid morons and that is the total sum of the issue.
Volkswagen cheating just so it could create an engine that would get better fuel economy is a symptom of the problem. We have our fucking heads screwed on so wrong that we waste resources and think that spewing more carbon dioxide in the air is the answer. I want to know how badly the Euroweeny diesels and Jap turbos that get the same kind of performance and fuel economy actually create NO2 and soot. I am almost willing to bet that on a per gallon basis it is almost the same as the big cummins that everybody thinks is eco friendly. I am almost certain that the amount of soot and NO2 per mile is less in the Euroweeny. So I call bullshit and hefferdust on the who eco diesel scam that we are being sold by Chrysler and the American auto industry.
This message was not sent from an iPhone because Peter Sellers really was a deviated prevert without a dime for the call
Yes, it has been confirmed. All current VW models in the US do now use urea injection, by the way.
Why the hangup over this particular emissions control technique?
From what I have read in Europe at least there is a perceived consumer resistance to urea injection, as it is seen as "something else that needs to be bought and paid for". It looks like in practice its not a big issue, with it costing under 1% of the fuel costs and only needing filling every 10,000 miles. Hell, in my younger days I needed a new set of tyres every 10,000 miles - though my driving has settled down a bit since then!