“All data shows that this issue is not confined to VW”, Peter Mock of ICCT told the magazine.
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The sharp stock market reaction underscores the skittishness among auto-industry investors in the wake of accusations by the US Environmental Protection Agency that Volkswagen AG used software to manipulate emissions-test results for its US-sold diesel passenger cars. No discrepancies were found in the X5 between laboratory-test and field-test NOx emissions, the company said.
The German magazine Auto Bild has published a clarification of their article released yesterday (September 24) concerning the emissions of a BMW X3 stating: “No evidence of emission manipulation by BMW….”
In Germany, the transport ministry said Thursday that spot checks of vehicles would not be limited to Volkswagen, while BMW shares plunged after a report that a diesel version of the X3 sport utility vehicle emitted more than 11 times the European limit for air pollution in a road test.
Drop This Fact: Starting in mid-2017, new cars in Europe will be forced to meet even tougher emissions standards during road tests.
If this analysis proves accurate, the amount of nitrogen oxide measured in the X3’s exhaust fumes would make it dirtier than the U.S.-spec Passat equipped with a 2.0-liter TDI engine. Euro 6 limits NOx emissions from diesel passenger cars to 80 mg per kilometer, down from 180 mg/km for Euro 5 vehicles.
Top BMW executives responded to Auto Bild by saying that they aren’t familiar with the ICCT’s test but they vehemently deny all allegations of wrongdoing.
In a statement to AFP, BMW said: “The BMW group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests”.
The testing included a new Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Cycle, which will be the standard test in Europe beginning in 2017.
“But the biggest challenge for diesel passenger vehicle manufacturers arises not from the certification cycle but from the real-driving emissions (RDE) test, which is scheduled to become a mandatory step for the type approval of passenger cars in the European Union in January 2016”.
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The news comes after an ICCT investigation conducted in cooperation with West Virginia University researchers uncovered irregularities in the emissions performance of Volkswagen diesel cars.
