Automakers exploit EU loophole to use legal 'defeat' devices
A 'minefield'
The CEO of a German services provider that specializes in engine
testing, emissions and development said talking on the record amid such a
charged atmosphere was the political equivalent of voluntarily walking
straight into a "minefield."
"What bothers me is the mutual
finger-pointing [between politicians and manufacturers]. We are all
sitting in the same boat," he grumbled, adding that both sides bore
their fair share of guilt for the EU law at the root of the problem.
Roughly
nine years ago, a bill was passed in Brussels detailing the process to
receive approvals for light vehicles. It banned the use of defeat
devices, which it defined as any emissions control sensor that reduces
the effectiveness of the system "under conditions which may reasonably
be expected to be encountered in normal vehicle operation and use."
But
lawmakers added a seemingly innocuous qualification, over which the
industry and politicians now blame each other for the image crisis: "The
prohibition shall not apply where the need for the device is justified
in terms of protecting the engine against damage or accident and for
safe operation of the vehicle."
This sentence opened a legally
sanctioned back door for defeat devices in almost any situation because
safety is traditionally considered paramount. In Volkswagen's domestic
market of Germany, independent testing officials complained they were
even barred from inspecting the engine management software because this
was classified a trade secret.
IHS' Fulbrook notes that the EU
does not require automakers to declare what devices they use to switch
off or minimize emissions controls, "certainly not as clear as the U.S."
That allows an automaker "to use his interpretation with very little
regulatory oversight," he said.
Automakers such as Renault,
Suzuki and Hyundai have defended use of defeat devices as necessary to
prevent engine damage at certain temperatures, a German investigative
committee reported.
As a result of the broad use of defeat
devices, the gap between actual and EU laboratory emissions widened
continuously over time. Even as the maximum permissible limits for
nitrogen oxides sank with new legislation, cars continued to belch out
NOx in much higher concentrations in the real world.
Once hooked
up to portable emissions measurement systems, Europe's most advanced
diesels were pumping out more than seven times their legal limit on
average as soon as they left a laboratory vs. just more than three times
the limit in 2005.
And that's not just Volkswagen. In fact, only
the best performer met the legal limit on the road, while the worst
found by the International Council on Clean Transportation had 24 or 25
times that level.
(AutoNews.com)
