Government Tests Find Britain’s Best Selling Diesel Cars Exceed Safe Pollution Levels

In the wake of the VW emissions scandal the Department for Transport spent over $1.5million testing 37  of Britain's best selling diesel cars. The results were extremely disappointing as they all exceeded the legal limit for safe levels of pollution with toxic emissions 14 times higher than claimed by the car manufacturers.

The "real world" tests, conducted in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, found that manufacturers have been deliberately reducing emissions controls on their engines when it is cold to reduce damage to engines. Robert Goodwill, a transport minister, said he was "disappointed" by the results and accused manufacturers of "gaming" the testing system. The Department for Transport spent more than £1million conducting tests on 37 of Britain's most popular diesel cars following the Volkswagen emissions scandal. It found that the levels of nitrogen dioxide, which can raise the risk of stroke, heart attacks and asthma attacks, were on on average six times higher than European legal limits. The Vauxhall Insignia produced the highest levels of emissions at 1,881mg per km compared to the Euro 5 legal limit of 180mg. It was followed by the Range Rover Sport, which produced 1,720 mg per km, and the Volvo V40, which produced 1,549mg per km. Even the best performer, the Citroen C4, was found to emit around three times the legal laboratory level. The report did not find evidence that other manufacturers have used "defeat devices" which helped Volkswagen vehicles cheat emissions tests during laboratory conditions.

This YouTube video from The Verge gives a very good explanation of the VW diesel scandal and how it worked and how it works.

However during testing manufacturers admitted that the emissions controls on their cars are deliberately designed to be "less effective" at lower temperatures, leading to higher levels of pollution when they are on the road. The report states: "We were told by manufacturers that the emissions control strategy for nitrogen dioxide is less effective at lower temperatures in order to ensure durability and protect the engine from damage. "The investigation team has seen evidence from manufacturers to support their justification that without such a temperature dependent control, the Exhaust Gas Recirculation [emission controls] and some of the fundamental elements within the engine would be materially damaged and cease to operate in the designed condition." Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, said that from next year all new cars in the European Union will have to meet new road testing standards. He said: "The tests do show the widespread use of engine management systems to prevent engine damage which can lead to higher emissions in real world temperature conditions cooler than those in the approved test lab." The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said: "What is immediately clear is that the vehicles tested met the legal standards with no new evidence that any other manufacturer has used any kind of lab cycle test recognition technology. " The differences between the results from official laboratory tests and those performed in the ‘real world’ are well known, and industry acknowledges the need for fundamental reform of the current official test regime, which does it no favours."

The Department for Transport was forced to act after VW admitted that 11 million cars worldwide had been equipped with emissions testing cheating systems. #vwemissionsscandal #vwemissionscheating #caremissionsscandal

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