2015-09-28
Timeline
- 1999 New Tier 2 rules established to replace Tier 1. NOx limit decreasing from 1.0 g/mi to .07 g/mi
- 2004-2009 Phase in period of diesel emissions rules
- 2007 VW suspends sales of current diesel lines awaiting technology to meet new standards
- 2008 VW announces new Clean Diesel cars
- 2009 Tier 2 fully in effect, VW TDI cars go on sale
- 2009-2015 VW diesel sales in the US rebound, Clean Diesels win several enviornmental awards, receive tax breaks
- 2014 International Council on Clean Transportation asks WVU CAFEE to help demonstrate the benefits of US diesel technology, hoping to have Europe follow suit
- May 2014 Instead, CAFEE finds discrepancies showing poor on-road emissions. Results presented at public forum and published, getting attention of EPA
- 2014-2015 EPA repeats tests, and contacts VW for explanation of poor real world NOx emissions
- December 2014 VW orders voluntary recall of TDI cars but CARB and EPA not satisfied
- September 3, 2015 EPA threatens to not certify 2016 diesels, VW responds by admitting software was programmed to cheat testing
- September 18, 2015 Public announcement by EPA of order to recall 2009-2015 cars
- September 20, 2015 VW admits deception, issues public apology
- September 21, 2015 First business day after news, VW stock down 20%
- September 22, 2015 VW to spend $7.3B to cover costs of scandal; stock declines another 17%
- September 23, 2015 CEO Winterkorn resigns
link
Volkswagen
Volkswagen defeat device scandal
2015-09-24
“May 2014 The West Virginia University’s (WVU) Centre for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions publishes results of a study commissioned by the International Council on Clean Transportation that found significantly higher-than-claimed in-use emissions from two diesel cars, a 2012 Jetta and a 2013 Passat. A BMW X5 also tested passed the tests.”
“3 September 2015 During a meeting VW admits it has designed and installed a defeat device in these vehicles in the form of a sophisticated software algorithm that detects when a vehicle is undergoing emissions testing.”
link
USA
Volkswagen
Volkswagen defeat device scandal
2015-09-22
(Ezra Dyer)
“Everyone wondered how VW met emissions standards while foregoing urea injection. As it turns out, they didn’t. It wasn’t magical German engineering. Just plain old fraud.”
“The intentionality behind the deceit makes this situation different from even a huge-scale recall. This isn’t a story about a part that was made one cent cheaper than it should’ve been, where a car company cut a corner to save a little cash. It’s about a huge corporation eying the rulebook and deciding there’s a competitive advantage in violating the Clean Air Act. Incompetence is one thing, but calculated mendacity is quite another.
It’s too bad. That Golf SportWagen TDI is a punchy, fun car. It’s got great fuel economy, tons of torque and a bargain price. But when something seems a little too good to be true, maybe that’s because it is.”
link
Popular Mechanics
USA
Volkswagen
Volkswagen defeat device scandal
2015-09-22
(Ezra Dyer)
“Everyone wondered how VW met emissions standards while foregoing urea injection. As it turns out, they didn’t. It wasn’t magical German engineering. Just plain old fraud.”
“The intentionality behind the deceit makes this situation different from even a huge-scale recall. This isn’t a story about a part that was made one cent cheaper than it should’ve been, where a car company cut a corner to save a little cash. It’s about a huge corporation eying the rulebook and deciding there’s a competitive advantage in violating the Clean Air Act. Incompetence is one thing, but calculated mendacity is quite another.
It’s too bad. That Golf SportWagen TDI is a punchy, fun car. It’s got great fuel economy, tons of torque and a bargain price. But when something seems a little too good to be true, maybe that’s because it is.”
link
Popular Mechanics
USA
Volkswagen
Volkswagen defeat device scandal
2015-09-22
(Ezra Dyer)
“Everyone wondered how VW met emissions standards while foregoing urea injection. As it turns out, they didn’t. It wasn’t magical German engineering. Just plain old fraud.”
“The intentionality behind the deceit makes this situation different from even a huge-scale recall. This isn’t a story about a part that was made one cent cheaper than it should’ve been, where a car company cut a corner to save a little cash. It’s about a huge corporation eying the rulebook and deciding there’s a competitive advantage in violating the Clean Air Act. Incompetence is one thing, but calculated mendacity is quite another.
It’s too bad. That Golf SportWagen TDI is a punchy, fun car. It’s got great fuel economy, tons of torque and a bargain price. But when something seems a little too good to be true, maybe that’s because it is.”
link
Popular Mechanics
USA
Volkswagen
Volkswagen defeat device scandal
2015-09-22
“VW may be liable for civil penalties and injunctive relief for the violations alleged in the NOV.
The allegations cover roughly 482,000 diesel passenger cars sold in the United States since 2008.
Affected diesel models include:
- Jetta (Model Years 2009-2015)
- Beetle (Model Years 2009-2015)
- Audi A3 (Model Years 2009-2015)
- Golf (Model Years 2009-2015)
- Passat (Model Years 2014-2015)
It is incumbent upon Volkswagen to initiate the process that will fix the cars’ emissions systems. Car owners should know that although these vehicles have emissions exceeding standards, these violations do not present a safety hazard and the cars remain legal to drive and resell. Owners of cars of these models and years do not need to take any action at this time.”
EPA
link
USA
Volkswagen
Volkswagen defeat device scandal
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