Several diesel auto brands emit higher levels of pollution than Volkswagen, a study published one year after the so-called Dieselgate scandal has found.
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All major diesel auto brands are selling vehicles in Europe that breach air pollution limits, with Germany’s Volkswagen (VW) manufacturing some of the cleanest cars, the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) said on Monday.
Claims by Westminster that it is “leading the push” for greater emissions testing in diesel cars have been branded as “misleading”, after a government investigation revealed that some vehicles are still producing up to 12 times the European Union maximum limit for road-tested emissions.
Law firm Leigh Day has been approached by around 10,000 UK Volkswagen customers who feel that they have been lied to by Volkswagen and who are angry about how the company are continuing to treat their UK European customers.
Investigators found that some cars spewed out up to 40 times more harmful nitrogen oxide – linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases – than legally allowed. Even if they have the lowest NOx emissions average out of 230 diesel vehicle models analyzed, the engines from Volkswagen still had twice as many nitrogen oxide emissions in real-world driving than the standard would allow. Most use so-called “thermal window” defeat devices that shut off exhaust treatment systems at ambient temperatures warmer or colder those used in laboratory tests.
VW was found to have the cleanest Euro 6 cars, although it also had the dirtiest Euro 5 cars. Archer says this was not, however, evidence of the carmaker “learning its lesson” as these models were available before last year’s scandal broke. The largest number of “dirty” diesels is found on French roads (5.5 million), followed by Germany (5,3 million), the United Kingdom (4,3 million), Italy (3,1 million), Spain (1,9 million) and Belgium (1,4 million). The report classifies a vehicle as “dirty” if emissions are more than three times the relevant NOx (Nitrogen oxides) limit.
The carmaker still needs to resolve a slew of other USA complaints, and remains barred from selling diesel vehicles in the country.
The complaint is expected to indicate that VW emissions exceeding environmental standards violated Korean citizens’ environmental rights guaranteed by the constitution, and along with them, VW owners’ property rights, from the drop in value of their vehicles resulting from the company’s illicit practice. For current Euro 6 cars a different pattern emerges.
The five carmakers with the most vehicles in breach of the Euro 5 standard are Renault (including the Dacia brand), Land Rover, Hyundai, Opel/Vauxhall (including Chevrolet) and Nissan. And the deeper they look, the more cheating they find. According to the independent committee’s report, around a third of the 86 diesel vehicles tested produced levels of NOx well above European limits. “FCA supports these efforts and welcomes the introduction of new regulations which should provide clarity for customers and the industry”.
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A Department for Transport spokesman said: “The Government takes the unacceptable actions of VW extremely seriously”. Hawes added that next year’s introduction of an on-road Real Driving Emissions (RDE) test, as well as tougher lab tests, would help to provide consumers with the “reassurance that manufacturers are delivering on air quality”.
