VW Faces $17B Fine for Emissions Scam

Thanks!

I found the updated mileage figures: Compare Side-by-Side

When you look at the fixed versus cheat mileage, the differences are so small. Talk about poor judgement.

Bob Wilson

 

what about power loss?

 

Note that those numbers are for a SCR car - it's the pre-2015s (and not Passats) that don't have SCR.

In any case, the claimed MPG figures aren't what I'd expect to change significantly - the car was compliant during the test cycle. What the TDIs were known for was beating the test cycle fuel efficiency, because they weren't compliant outside of the test cycle.

 

Devil is in the details, from what I have read the fixed cars are not epa compliant either but are “good enough” for horseshoes and hand grenades and being allowed for sale anyway.

 

In California?

Bob Wilson

 

Also, VW originally installed inferior quality Lean NOx Traps (LNT)s in the fraudulent Diesels, which weren't capable of functioning reliably over extended periods when actually being used constantly. Which is why replacement of the LNT is also part of the approved retrofits in the US.

In Europe, where the longevity requirements are not so demanding, VW's fraudulent Diesels are getting away with just a software update and a cheap little plastic strainer in front of the MAF sensor.

 

It is common practice both for the EPA and CARB to not require absolute full emissions compliance in cases where the technical or financial burden would be disproportionately large. In such cases, the excess emissions must be compensated by emissions reductions elsewhere. For example: Volkswagen Settlement - Environmental Mitigation Trust for California
and https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-01/documents/vw-dera-option-factsheet-2017-01.pdf

 

Drove -68 mi from Huntsville to Manchester TN, all EV to test the 1st day of the 150 kW, CCS, fast DC charger. This means I can drive to Nashville TN in EV all the way and back. Not as fast as on REx nor as cheap, still good practice.

Comments left in PlugShare: $1.00 + $0.30/min.




















The longest, empty coal car train I've ever seen. Four pulling and one in the last 1/3d.

Thanks diesel cheater VW. I forgive you.

Bob Wilson

 

I may have spoken too soon. Here is the Electrify America (aka. VW diesel fine) :

Friday I spent an hour in Manchester TN (#5) trying to get a charge with the support staff . . . no luck. Four chargers, multiple remote reloads, different credit cards and no luck. So I drove 76 mi home on the range extender engine (BMW i3-REx). Support plans to call me when it is fixed.

Bob Wilson

 

i can't find a working location map yet. i see there is one in plymouth mass. should work well if only one ev is visiting the mayflower.

 

I use Plugshare because it is user maintained. I've found the commercial maps to be unsatisfactory.

If interested in the nearest working Electrify America station in Springfield, MA:
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

Bob Wilson

 

at 15 miles per charge, i will be in springfield by next may.

 

Chicopee, MA.
Welcome to Electrify America | Locations

 

good spot, probably a ton of ev's out there.

 

Emissions from most diesel cars in Europe greatly exceed laboratory testing levels: Real-word driving produces up to 16 times more emissions, causing 2,700 premature deaths across the EU -- ScienceDaily

 

From the article:

Overall, they estimated that, each year, 2,700 people within these populations will lose at least a decade of their life due to exposure to excess NOx emissions from passenger cars. They broke this number down by manufacturer and found a wide spread of health impact contributions: Volkswagen, Renault, and General Motors produced diesel cars associated with the most yearly premature deaths, each numbering in the hundreds, while Toyota, Hyundai, and BMW were associated with fewer early deaths.

"The variation across manufacturers was more than a factor of five, which was much bigger than we expected," Barrett says.
. . .
Unlike particulate matter spewed from smokestacks, such as soot, which mostly settles out in the local area, NOx is first emitted as a gas, which can be carried easily by the wind across thousands of kilometers, before reacting with ammonia to form particulates, a form of the chemical that can ultimately cause respiratory and cardiac problems.

"There's almost no correlation between who drives [diesel cars] and who incurs the health disbenefits, because the impacts are so diffuse through all of Europe," Barrett says.​

This matches the USA experience in that BMW was the control diesel that met USA emissions on the road.

Bob Wilson

 

So...more people die each year from vehicular accidents than guns and drugs...and...pollution shortens everyone else's life? Then let's ban all cars and light trucks....problem solved.

 

All cars? Why ... They're not all diesels, much less, the gross polluters

 

...and hybrids even less, yet still harmful. Still...more deaths from vehicular accident than drugs and guns. VW makes crappy cars people, move on.

 

Uh, no. In the U.S., accidental drug overdoses last year took about 72,000 lives, almost as many as cars and guns combined.

If one adds in the intentional drug deaths (nearly all suicides), then drugs may even exceed cars and guns combined, but the official figures won't be released until December.

Note that "drugs" here excludes alcohol (~88,000 deaths per year) and nicotine delivery devices (~450,000 deaths/year). Note also that the alcohol figure double-counts a significant fraction of those deaths from cars and violence, and some of the unintentional drug poisonings as well.