Since 2009, Volkswagen had been installing elaborate software in 482,000 "clean diesel" vehicles sold in the US, so that the cars' pollution controls only worked when being tested for emissions. The rest of the time, the vehicles could freely spew hazardous, smog-forming compounds.
Suffice to say, regulators were livid once they caught on. Last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that Volkswagen had very flagrantly violated the Clean Air Act. Not only did the EPA order the German firm to fix the affected vehicles — which include diesel TDI versions of the Golf, Jetta, Beetle, and Passat — but the agency could end up levying fines as high as $18 billion. The Department of Justice is also contemplating criminal charges.
The scandal has only widened from there. On Tuesday, Volkswagen admitted that some 11 million clean diesel cars sold worldwide contain software to fool regulators, with the vast majority of cars likely to be in Europe.
Regulators didn't notice this ruse for years. The problem was only uncovered by an independent group, the International Council on Clean Transportation, which wanted to investigate why there was such a discrepancy between laboratory tests and real-road performance for several of VW's diesel cars in Europe. So they worked with researchers at West Virginia University, who stuck a probe up the exhaust pipe of VW's clean diesel cars and drove them from San Diego to Seattle.
Despite the discrepancies, a fix shouldn't involve major changes. "It could be something very small," said Carder, who's the interim director of West Virginia University's Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions in Morgantown, about 200 miles (320 km) west of Washington in the Appalachian foothills.
"It can simply be a change in the fuel injection strategy. What might be realized is a penalty in fuel economy in order to get these systems more active, to lower the emissions levels."
Carder said he's surprised to see such a hullabaloo now, because his team's findings were made public nearly a year and a half ago.
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Regarding his role in unearthing the current scandal, Carder said there was no particular sense of excitement when his team confirmed that the higher VW emission results were real and not a consequence of faulty measurements.
"There's no incentive for us to pass or fail," he said. "Obviously, we don't want to see something spewing emissions and polluting the environment. But we really have no horse in the race, as they say."
Carder belonged to a 15-member West Virginia University team that pioneered portable emissions testing as part of a 1998 settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and several heavy duty diesel engine makers including Caterpillar Inc and Cummins Engine Co.
The VW recall is going to be an even harder sell: Bringing down the cars' emissions will also bring down their performance and their mileage. A Jetta owner who takes her car in to get "fixed" will drive off the service center lot in a slower and thirstier car. Some conscientious owners will bite the bullet and do it; others will be tempted to keep putting off making that appointment.
And that's why emissions regulations are a government mandate, not something left up to individual car owners. A car isn't done when its manufacturer certifies that it meets federal standards; the states also test cars' emissions, in person, one at a time. If your car flunks, you can't register it. The California Air Resources Board is already on the case, so California and other states with strict emissions rules may start refusing to recertify the affected VWs already on the road. Yes, those cars will "pass" emissions tests—but the EPA letter helpfully includes a chart of the VW models and years with software defeat devices. It's easy to imagine a state department of motor vehicles issuing a flat rule that none of these cars will be allowed to take the emissions test without proof that they've been patched.
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In hindsight, these sentiments are darkly ironic in the way that great corporate crimes always are. The best way to rob a bank is to own one; the best way to defeat factory-set emissions controls is to own the factory. A panic about individual mom-and-pop garages tampering with a few cars was used to justify laws that helped make it harder to detect the fact that one of the world's largest automakers tampered with 11 million cars. The EPA has already shown that it doesn't know when to look inside of software black boxes. Unless the rest of us are allowed to, who knows what other evil lurks in the hearts of cars?
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Booga-booga! ACK! THBBBBBTH!
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Boner is crying like I have never seen him cry.
BREAKING: Pope to Congress: Welcome migrants, treat them as you would want to be treated.
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 24, 2015
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Here's why they're crying.. they all got called out for their xenophobia by an old guy.BREAKING: Pope to Congress: Welcome migrants, treat them as you would want to be treated.
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 24, 2015
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I had coveted a TDI Jetta, primarily because of my high-mileage commute. I'm rather glad I bought a CVT Nissan instead.
Which I just filled this morning with regular for less than $20. (37 mpg on the last reading)
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Quote by Raine:Quote by Raine:FACEBOOK IS DOWN! never mind…. FACEBOOK IS DOWN AGAIN!
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dammit now I'll have to do work!
Quote by Raine:WTOP is reporting it now. I guess this is a pretty big deal.Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:Quote by Raine:FACEBOOK IS DOWN! never mind…. FACEBOOK IS DOWN AGAIN!
dammit now I'll have to do work!
Quote by Raine:WTOP is reporting it now. I guess this is a pretty big deal.Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:Quote by Raine:FACEBOOK IS DOWN! never mind…. FACEBOOK IS DOWN AGAIN!
dammit now I'll have to do work!