VW Faces $17B Fine for Emissions Scam

The reason I'm skeptical about a catalytic converter replacement is 'wiring'. Almost integral with each model are the connectors and wires needed to connect the control computers to the different parts. News 'rumors' suggest VW has a catalytic converter with SCR that they can fit into the Jetta. If accurate:

• a legal catalytic converter and SCR may have been designed and prototyped before but not implemented
• the wiring harness may have 'stub connectors' already

This might actually work except for those of us who have replaced mufflers before. The only thing worse is replacing a clutch! You're talking nuts, bolts, and hanger assemblies that after 5-6 years of winter weather look more like iron ore than metal. Having to use a gas torch to 'break' the nuts loose. It would be an ugly job.

I'm only talking 'technical stuff'.

Bob Wilson

 

There's apparently a configuration of combined LNT and SCR that doesn't require DEF - http://www.meca.org/galleries/files/MECA_Diesel_White_Paper_12-07-07_final.pdf (Section 5.5 starting o page 33).

Wonder if this is the "catalyst" that's been mentioned?

 

The thing about about any fix involving a hardware change is the sheer scale of how many parts need to be manufactured and installed. Does VW make enough for every car or count on most owners bailing on something they may not care to have installed? Then there is the issue of delivery and dealer capacities to make the installations. All of these steps take time...so much time that I wonder how "real" this solution can actually be.

 

Well I was calming down until this: 'We Didn't Lie,' Volkswagen CEO Says Of Emissions Scandal : The Two-Way : NPR

NPR: You said this was a technical problem, but the American people feel this is not a technical problem, this is an ethical problem that's deep inside the company. How do you change that perception in the U.S.?

Matthias Mueller: Frankly spoken, it was a technical problem. We made a default, we had a ... not the right interpretation of the American law. And we had some targets for our technical engineers, and they solved this problem and reached targets with some software solutions which haven't been compatible to the American law. That is the thing. And the other question you mentioned — it was an ethical problem? I cannot understand why you say that.
. . .​

VW lawyers are as good as their understanding of engineering ethics.

Bob Wilson

 

It appears to me that he has communicated very clearly.

What he has communicated is that neither he nor the management of VW can be trusted at all and they will blame anyone or anything else if they think there is any chance that someone might believe them or be confused enough not to see through them.

 

He speaks as if their policy was:

• Emissions testing is only a test, a demo, and has no relationship to operational 'tunings'.
• Operational emissions has not effect on the health of their managers, employees, customers, or air breathing people. They are abysmally ignorant, willful or otherwise, of NOx effects.

This interview is useful because it shows how badly VW lied to themselves.

Bob Wilson

 

so, i realize europeans are looking at this somewhat differently from americans, especially the german government. but did vdub not break any of their laws?

 

There was a recent, proposed change in the EU emissions standard that would keep the VW diesels 'legal.'
But our side of the pond is not so forgiving.

Source: Air Resources Board rejects VW 2-liter diesel recall plan and issues Notice of Violation

SACRAMENTO January 12, 2016 - The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today notified Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. that it is rejecting VW’s submitted recall plan for 2-liter diesel passenger vehicles sold in California between 2009 and 2015. It also notified VW of violations of California air quality regulations associated with the company’s use of a “defeat device” in those cars.

"Volkswagen made a decision to cheat on emissions tests and then tried to cover it up,” said CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols. “They continued and compounded the lie and when they were caught they tried to deny it. The result is thousands of tons of nitrogen oxide that have harmed the health of Californians. They need to make it right. Today's action is a step in the direction of assuring that will happen."

CARB made public today three separate official documents related to its actions: A transmittal letter signed by Executive Officer Richard W. Corey; the rejection of VW’s submitted recall plan; and the formal Notice of Violation. These documents and a Frequently Asked Questions document are posted at: VW Diesel Vehicle Information

Today’s actions do not preclude a recall, but allow for a broader array of potential remedies. CARB will continue its investigation and technical evaluations with EPA to return the vehicles to legally required emission levels, determine mitigation for past and future environmental harm, and assess penalties. ​

Fecal matter has hit the fan.

Here are the public documents: VW Diesel Vehicle Information

Bob Wilson

 

honestly, if vdub starts heading in this direction, i wouldn't mind if they closed shop here. i thought they already admitted cheatinghe sure changed his tune after consulting with ze spin doktors, and asking for a do over. nor was too easy on him.

 

Expected: VW Meeting With EPA on Diesel Emissions Ends After an Hour - Bloomberg Business

Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Matthias Mueller met with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy for about an hour Wednesday, as the German carmaker discussed revamped proposals to overcome a diesel emissions-cheating scandal.
. . . ​

Bob Wilson

 

​

Wow! By tomorrow it will be your fault Bob. Get ready.

 

Source: European Investment Bank puts loans to VW on hold| Reuters

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has stopped loans to Volkswagen pending an investigation into whether some of its previous funding could been used by the German carmaker to cheat diesel emissions tests.
. . .
While no link had been proven between any EIB loans and defeat devices, the bank cannot yet exclude a connection between the banned software and "part of a 400 million euro EIB loan," EIB President Werner Hoyer told reporters in Brussels.
. . . ​

When the banker is unhappy, perhaps he learned that VW just "misinterpreted" the emissions rules and they are now wondering,"Will VW misinterpret the terms of a loan?"

"EIB’s Werner Hoyer ‘somewhat astonished about the communication behavior’ of Volkswagen over emissions cheating"
​

Bob Wilson

 

the mammaland is unhappy.

 

isn't it Fatherland?

 

used to be.

 

Duplicate to keep the references in one thread:

At least two benchmarks found the MPG numbers were off. Not by much but enough to reverse the "Portland-to-Portland" stunt by GreenHuman. One MPG was a Consumer Reports highway (trustable) and the second a BBC test where they just ran the same test a second time without turning off the car.

My foggy memory says something like 53 MPG -> 50 MPG on the latest one, just about 8%. Here are the references found:

• - "The bottom line is, we observed a power loss of approximately 10.5% when simulating the emissions testing procedure."
• - 53 -> 50 MPG and 50 -> 46 MPG, Consumer Reports highway testing.
• VW cars can also cheat European emissions tests, BBC learns - BBC News

Bob Wilson

 

CR did do A-B-A testing, right?

 

Diesel As Dangerous As Asbestos, But Europe Looks The Other Way

 

Study of Lifetime Animal Exposure to New Technology Diesel Engine Exhaust Finds No Lung Cancer

 

what does this have to do with the 600,000 cheat diesels in the u.s., or 8.5 million they foisted on innocent europeans?