The Commission is also calling for a review of vehicle testing in Europe.
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“The (European) Commission calls on national authorities to look into the implications for vehicles sold in Europe and ensure that EU pollutant emission standards are scrupulously respected”, a statement from EU Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said.
The European Commission has called on all 28 EU member states to carry out investigations to establish if false emission claims have been made in Europe. “We have documented a systematic gap between official [carbon dioxide, or C02] vehicle emission values, measured in laboratories, and real-world, on-road CO2 emission levels of cars in the EU”, said Peter Mock, European Managing Director at The worldwide Council on Clean Transportation. “This cynical chicanery must end”, Green environment spokesman Bas Eickhout said.
Volkswagen has said 11 million of its diesel cars around the world could be implicated after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed VW had been using software to mask pollutants.
This is a type of software known as a “defeat device”.
Cars are hooked up to measuring equipment, and go through acceleration and deceleration tests to measure carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide (NOx), particulate matter, fuel efficiency, and so on.
Industry bodies deny there is any deliberate deception in European tests. Mr. Cortvriend couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.
“The EU operates a fundamentally different system to the United States – with all European tests performed in strict conditions as required by EU law and witnessed by a government-approved independent approval agency”, said the chief executive of the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Mike Hawes.
“Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health”, said EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Giles.
In Europe, cars makers also must demonstrate their production vehicles also can pass emissions standards, using the same testing regime used to first certify the cars. “There are several thousand vehicles we test”, said Vincenzo Lucà, a spokesman for TÜV SÜD, the Germany-based global certification organization.
The company’s share price has plummeted on the back of the news, with €25bn wiped off its market capitalisation since news of the scandal broke on Friday.
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THE entire way diesel vehicle emissions are tested in Europe is not fit for objective and is open for abuse.
