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VW Has Emissions-Cheating Fix Ready, Says Report (pressherald.com)
An anonymous reader writes from a report via Portland Press Herald: Volkswagen plans to fix the engines that were rigged to cheat on emissions tests by updating computer software and installing a larger catalytic converter to trap harmful nitrogen oxide, according to two dealers who were briefed by executives on the matter. The dealers said that limited details of the plan were made public last week at a regional dealer meeting in Newark, New Jersey, by Volkswagen of America Chief Operating Officer Mark McNabb. Portland Press Herald reports: "One dealer said the group was told that early testing of a small sample of repaired cars showed that the fix made 'no discernible difference' in the cars' mileage, horsepower or torque. Both dealers said they were told that more testing was needed and that the plans still had to be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. One of the dealers said the so-called 'Generation 1' diesels -- about 325,000 VW Jettas, Golfs, Passats and Beetles from the 2009 to 2014 model years – would get new software and bigger catalytic converters in January or February of next year. About 90,000 'Generation 2' Passats already have sufficient emissions systems and would get only a software update early next year. Another 67,000 'Generation 3' 2015 models would get software in October and would get additional hardware a year later, the dealer said. Dealers also were told that they'd be reimbursed by VW for sales losses due to the scandal, and that new vehicles are coming." Last month, Volkswagen agreed to a record $14.7 billion settlement over the emissions cheating.
I'd love to see an independent, third-party certification that there isn't discernible loss in MPG or power.
How much will it hurt gas mileage. For all of the bs about harming the environment, the reduction in CO2 emissions from the cheating is probably the best thing that's happened for the environment this century.
The problem isn't technically how to do it. It's how to do it within the confines of what space is available on the car.
Poke around a modern car, truck or heavy equipment and it's 'full'. Had VW done it properly the first time the floor pan of the car would have likely had a completely different shape than what was shipped.
They had to find a solution that worked and worked on the car's dimensions as it shipped.
If you look at the newer Gen-3 diesels and compare to similar gasser models, the one notable difference is that the diesels lack the independent rear suspension. Why? Most likely to make room for the DEF tank.
As you say, retrofitting DEF would be a challenge. Not just the tank, but plumbing, wiring, a new ECU, more sensors.
And where/how do you fill the tank? Where is the fill tube, in other words? If they end up having to cut the body panels to make room for it, how do they ensure that the metal around the edge is properly treated/painted so that it doesn't rust.
This wasn't a mistake in engineering, it was deliberate. I wonder if the "larger catalytic converter" now being retrofitted was part of the reason for the fraud - those things are filled with expensive precious metals.
200% of the legally mandated levels is still pretty fantastic. We're still pretending that CO2 isn't serious, so we're focusing on the NOx. But the CO2 reduction that comes with the efficiency improvements of using a small turbo diesel is frankly worth a little NOx.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Diesel engines emit 15-20% more CO2 per unit volume (liter/gallon) of fuel burned because the fuel contains more energy/carbon.
Irrelevant; they emit less CO2 per mile traveled because of the efficiency improvements.
And once the companies stop cheating, the fuel economy of the Diesel just isn't all that much better than a turbo gas engine.
False. This fix does not substantially affect mileage.
Why put up with extra NOx
Worth it
and particulates (depending on the car you compare to)
Bullshit. Gassers make just as much particulate, but it's of the most hazardous type, which means their particulate emissions are actually worse than diesel. They also emit more HC than diesels, and unburned hydrocarbons are bar none the most harmful automotive emission. Gasoline also has to be refined more than diesel, which means more energy input and more polluting output. Gasoline engines are shit for the environment.
to save such a small amount of CO2?
Diesels emit less of everything but soot (theirs is less harmful) and NOx (worth the trade).
Just get a gas hybrid and do better all around.
You know that battery electrolyte isn't recycled, right? It's just disposed of and then replaced. A small diesel engine won't give the same performance, but that's fine; it will give adequate or even quite good performance these days. It will give superior mileage, and without involving a battery.
Or a plug-in hybrid like the Volt where you can do most of your driving burning no liquid fuel at all?
Plug-in hybrids at least have a reason to exist, unlike non-plug-in hybrids. But I live in the boonies, so I would still have to do most of my driving on liquid fuel. And they are also quite expensive, to boot.
Since I do very little driving I don't give a shit anyway; I bought an old and cheap Audi A8 Quattro and am restoring it to good-enough condition. (Next: AC compressor.) It doesn't get particularly good mileage or have particularly great emissions, but it did cost thousands and thousands of dollars less than a new car, and it is dramatically better to drive than any econo shitbox. With the money I save not buying a Volt, I could buy an S8 (let alone the A8) and drive it everywhere with a lead foot for years. Sorry, environment! I seriously don't go out much, though. My prior car was a 300SD, which was a bit better on mileage and which ran on a more environmentally-friendly fuel. But frankly, it's cheaper to buy a whole new car than to upgrade the turbo and more expensively upgrade the injection pump on that diesel, so that's what I did. German luxobarge forever. I'm two meters tall, I'm over clown cars.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"