VW Scandal

[oliverdst]

A simple graphic (Reuters) that enlights the trick.

[Souperchi]

dirty buggers eh! Glad my VW is a gas!

[HarveyBoulevard]

I saw the stock price take a header yesterday. Amazing what people will intentionally do to get around the rules. Heads will roll and wallets will be emptied.

[parabola66]

I would still buy a VW again. Love my Jetta... would love a nice GTI even more!!

[Dimmers]

Das screwup!

Might this be the beginning of the end for diesel cars generally?

[danny]

Wow. That is some serious stuff there. Eeek

[LateApex]

Wonder if this will be a buying opportunity for both the stock and their cars in the near future...

[dangolf18]

Those at the top must have known about this and should be held accountable. This stuff doesn't just happen accidentally....that said it doesn't really affect me as I don't see why anyone would opt for a VW diesel over an entry-level diesel from BMW or Audi.

[moryc]

We have a 2013 VW Passat TDI. Got an urgent request for software update, its going in this Saturday. Yeah that's pretty shady business they did, but still would buy one. This one does close to 1100 km on 65 l. tank. That's real economy highway/city and I am not exactly an easy driver. Diesel but this thing is a rocket.

[Ken Gargett]

Wonder if this will be a buying opportunity for both the stock and their cars in the near future...

i'd be stunned if they are not in for some massive, perhaps crippling, fines in both the US and Europe.

[CaptainQuintero]

i'd be stunned if they are not in for some massive, perhaps crippling, fines in both the US and Europe. 

£12b was being reported on the news tonight

[CaptainQuintero]

i'd be stunned if they are not in for some massive, perhaps crippling, fines in both the US and Europe. 

ã12billion sterling was being reported on the news tonight

[Ken Gargett]

ã12billion sterling was being reported on the news tonight

assume that is for europe? can't inagine the states will miss them, either.

[Blace]

I'm impressed, that is a nice piece of software engineering there! I never liked VW anyway, their cars have a horrendous reliability record. I've always preferred BMW.

[AndrewNR]

Bloody hell thats incredible.. albeit not the first or the last to do something like it I'm sure..

[helix]

I bet more car manufacturers will be implicated .

[Duxnutz]

I'm more angry about the gearbox recall and dodgy customer service at point of repair.

My twelve yr old Nissan had an airbag recall. Gave me a free service. Beauty.

[FHFinster]

dirty buggers eh! Glad my VW is a gas!

Haha. Glad my VW is a BMW

[bolivr]

I used to work with engineers at GM and I remember how much time and effort went into making a car comply with emissions regulations as well as making it nice to drive. It is time consuming and costly to achieve this.

Quite apart from the environmental issues, what VW seem to have done is to try to gain a competitive advantage in two areas 1 they possibly shortened the development time of the vehicle which would save a lot of money and secondly they've been able to produce a car that drives well and possibly produces more power and has better durability than if they had to compromise on driveability vs emissions. There's a lot of people in trouble because it would've been signed off at a high level.

[MIKA27]

US Emissions Tests Question The Future Of Diesel

Volkswagen has set aside €6.5 billion to cover the costs of the growing scandal over cheating on emissions tests in the US. Putting a number on the cost further down line will be far harder, however, as it is a crisis which calls into question the ethical credentials of the company and the industry, as well as posing tough questions about the regulators and authorities who were duped.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Although the Volkswagen emissions scandal has caught many by surprise, in fact it has been brewing for a while. It all started when the European wing of the US NGO International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) set out to prove modern diesels were genuinely clean and would therefore be able to make a significant contribution to improving both CO2 emissions and air quality.

The US has higher emissions standards than Europe, which were regularly passed by VW’s diesel-fuelled cars. The ICCT decided to test why this was the case – and had some surprising results.

Partnering with a team from the University of West Virginia, the team fitted portable emissions testing equipment to three vehicles (two VWs and one BMW) on a run from San Diego to Seattle, which turned up very disappointing results for the VWs. The VW Jetta tested on the road trip exceeded NOx (one of the regulated toxic emissions) standards by 15 to 35 times the legal limit.

When similar vehicles were subjected to their official test in the California Air Resources Board’s laboratory, however, they passed.

The road test emissions numbers in the lab all fell within the accepted levels of NOx emissions. Following investigations into the matter, VW has admitted to gaming the US air pollution tests. Nearly half a million cars have been recalled for containing “defeat device” software that only turns on the cars’ emissions controls when they are undergoing official testing.

Death Of Diesel?

Arguably, VW was complying with US law by meeting test standards and this raises an important issue when it comes to the efforts being made to reduce emissions. Global efforts to combat climate change and reduce CO2 emissions have resulted in leniency on diesel cars – not only in public debates concerning the environment, but also in legislation. This is one of the reasons why the EU has followed a more lenient toxic emissions regime for diesel than petrol in recent years.

Along the way, human health and the impact of toxic tailpipe emissions from vehicles, has taken a backseat. But this approach is increasingly being questioned. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, for example, announced plans to ban most diesel vehicles from the city from 2020. Many feel that with potentially low carbon alternatives such as electric and hybrid-electric vehicles increasingly available, as well as, more recently, the first commercial fuel-cell cars, the need for diesel as a carbon reduction technology is becoming less central.

Unanswered Questions

For VW itself, apart from the massive loss of share value in recent days, its corporate social and environmental responsibility has taken a severe knock. Diesel cars represent a large proportion of new car sales in Europe and also of vehicles in use.

Many of these will be Volkswagen Group vehicles bought by people who probably thought that they were helping reduce carbon emissions. While they certainly did so – the TDI-engines in question are among the most fuel-efficient engines available and low fuel consumption means low CO2 – but these same people probably assumed that beyond this, their cars at least complied with toxic emissions standards.

Others, such as the Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment are probably less surprised. They have long been among those highlighting the fact that the real world experience of many car owners, even in terms of fuel consumption, did not come anywhere near to the official figures that resulted from emissions testing. The question arises of why it takes underfunded NGOs to discover these problems, rather than the regulators themselves.

It is also unclear whether this technique was only used to deal with the particularly tight US and California regulations, or whether it was also used to get around the European test cycle and emissions compliance is being investigated in Asia too. At the same time, it raises serious questions about diesel and public support for this technology may well suffer. What is clear is that this is one of the biggest crises to hit the car industry – and on a par with those that have rocked the banking sector. Perhaps we’ll see the same tightening of regulation that has significantly improved that industry.

[Fosgate]

I guess governments shouldn't really be shocked when they come up with new emission standards based on theory and political advise rather than from a business stand point. Cut emissions by XX%. Manufacturers are thinking how are we to do that without producing a slug that can't get out of its own way when we mash the accelerator to merge with traffic? I just wish the U.S. would bring back diesels. May uncle had a Toronado with a diesel that got great milage for a larger car. A friend had an 84 Ford Escort that got Prius like mileage and at $.77 a gallon vs $.98 a gallon for gas it was a bargain. I once saw a diesel Jeep Liberty at my families dealership and it was like spotting a blue moon. Salesman were baffled it even existed. Too bad diesel is substantially more than gas anymore.

[Lotusguy]

Das screwup!

Might this be the beginning of the end for diesel cars generally?

Not at all. Have you been to Europe? >50% diesel.

[PigFish]

I don't know whether to be pissed off or laugh my ass off...! I own one of these!

To be honest folks, I have never owned an econobox car... until my Jetta TDI. I have always owned either 4WD trucks or sports cars. I have never even owned a sedan, unless the junkers that I used to buy and wreck as a kid counts. I could of course bought into PC propaganda and bought a hybrid, but instead I bought another diesel. The fact is, I own 2 diesel trucks now, a couple of big Fords. And for 'big' Fords, they run great...

I was driving my F-150 everyday, 120 mile round-trip commute, and the gas was killing me. It totaled about $550/month.

My average commute speed is pretty slow. I usually have a "clear runway" in the AM, but the PM is a killer. That average is about 26mph...

My Jetta... 26mph... 46mpg! Hell, it is even faster than my trucks with a modified computer. I love the stupid little car!

The only thing I don't like about it (was) the crappy stereo. Some Focal speakers and some insulation fixed that. The other thing is that I can hardly get out of the damn thing. Being 40lbs lighter would probably help...! Forget that I mentioned that.

Funny, I don't think I want mother VW effin' with my computer! The car runs great. I could care less about the NOx.

Of course there are always those that say that car X or Y is better than mine. Frankly folks, I did not buy the buggy as a faster gun! It is a car to pile the miles on that won't break me. Adding 10k to the price should get one a better car... A BMW or Mercedes diesel is probably better, but I have no intention of buying one of those to toss my dirty work shoes in, ahead of my soiled body.

Diesels are really overlooked by the American car buyer. I have owned them for over 2 decades now and I would be happy to never own a naturally aspirated gas car again. When I sell my F150, that will become a reality!

I guess that VW is gonna' eat it on this deal. Again, as a guy getting cigars via the black market I have to say, I wish they never got caught and have a bit of a chuckle. I have been quite happy with my little black econo-box Jetta and frankly I don't want to give it back, even if they refunded me!!!

High quality car? Probably not... For what it cost, and what it costs to run me down the congested hi ways, it is a beautiful car indeed!

Cheers! -Piggy

[chriswalker]

Hoax - wagon...

[PigFish]

I guess governments shouldn't really be shocked when they come up with new emission standards based on theory and political advise rather than from a business stand point. Cut emissions by XX%. Manufacturers are thinking how are we to do that without producing a slug that can't get out of its own way when we mash the accelerator to merge with traffic? I just wish the U.S. would bring back diesels. May uncle had a Toronado with a diesel that got great milage for a larger car. A friend had an 84 Ford Escort that got Prius like mileage and at $.77 a gallon vs $.98 a gallon for gas it was a bargain. I once saw a diesel Jeep Liberty at my families dealership and it was like spotting a blue moon. Salesman were baffled it even existed. Too bad diesel is substantially more than gas anymore.

Where I live mate, with all the custom blends of UL gas, diesel is about 10 to 20% cheaper than gas! -P