Report Claims VW Not Alone on Emissions Failures
Volkswagon may not be the only car manufacturer facing emissions issues; a recent report is now claiming that several other automakers are emitting more toxins than what shows up in testing facilities.
The European report shows Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda, and Mitsubishi have been producing diesel engines that are spewing up to 20 times the allowable amounts of pollutants like Nitrogen Oxide (NOx).
Though there is a difference between garage measures and real world levels of emissions, there is no evidence of manipulation with the emissions systems like there was in the VW case.
A Mercedes rep spoke to the Guardian about the disparity, stating: “Since real-world driving conditions do not generally reflect those in the laboratory, the consumption figures may differ from the standardized figures.”
The European Union has been working hard at reducing NOx emissions by enacting tough legislation but the Guardian reported that pollution continues to be a problem.
The article pointed out that car makers are building cars to specifically pass emissions tests in the garage, not improve emissions to protect the environment.
This would be much like obeying the letter of the law instead of respecting the spirit of it.
“These new test results [from Emissions Analytics] prove that the Volkswagen scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. What we are seeing here is a dieselgate that covers many brands and many different car models,” said Greg Archer, an emissions expert at Transport and Environment.
Archer is now calling for a new testing procedure that will capture data from road tests instead of the traditional diagnostic assessment performed at garages.
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