Two years after the famous 'Dieselgate', the European Union has found indications that some brands are trying to distort emissions in the most gross way, to avoid new upcoming regulation.
In 2020, the European Union will adopt a new regulation that will set new limits on the pollutants emitted by the vehicles. To this end, the EU is collecting data to establish these limits carefully.
Apparently, manufacturers are modifying the engines of the vehicles that are being tested to make them more dirty. Their objective is to raise the limits the EU will set in 2020. Yeah, it is the same technique as retail stores that raise prices before sales.
According to the Financial Times, the EU has found indications that several manufacturers are involved in this practice and fears that the measurements made so far are already too distorted. Moreover, it looks like there is not a single method as there was in the 'Dieselgate' scandal. For instance, in some hybrid models, the tests have been carried out with the battery almost exhausted, which forces the engine to use more fuel, increasing the emissions. In others, simple tuning have been done to worsen performance, playing with the gears of the car. In a third type of fraud, the mechanism that stops the engine in short stops was deactivated to keep it running.
Again and again it is shown that there can always be pitfalls in controlled tests. The only way to control vehicle emissions is to measure them over their lifetime and under real conditions. That is to say, to monitor the whole European fleet with the RSD systems.
Source: Gizmodo
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