http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1103560_its-not-just-vw-every-diesel-road-tested-in-the-u-k-fails-emissions-tests#src=10065
[links in on-line article]
It's not just VW: Every diesel road-tested in the U.K. fails emissions tests
Richard Read
Apr 22, 2016
When people look back at this moment in automotive history, they'll
almost certainly see it as the time when the industry began
transitioning to electric and autonomous cars. But there's another
change afoot, one triggered by years of deception and falsely advertised
products manufactured by one of the world's largest automakers.
The Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal took most people by surprise, and it's
led consumers and regulators to look at automobiles more skeptically
than they had before the news broke last September. That's not only true
in the U.S., but also in Europe, where tests have revealed that few, if
any, diesels on the road in the United Kingdom meet emissions guidelnes.
Like the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.K.'s Department for
Transport has been busy conducting emissions tests on diesel vehicles.
While those tests may have initially been limited to cars manufactured
by VW, Audi, and other Volkswagen group brands, they were recently
extended to diesels from other manufacturers.
All told, the DfT has put 37 models through real-world road tests.
Unfortunately, the results have been vastly different from those
gathered in controlled lab tests, like the kind that Volkswagen cars
were designed to cheat on.
How different were the results? On average, road-tested vehicles emitted
five times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, with some pumping out as
much as 12 times the maximum allowed. None passed the DfT's tests.
The vehicles have come from a wide range of automakers like
Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, and Ford. Together, the 37 models
tested represent roughly 50 percent of all diesels sold in the U.K.
between 2010 and 2015.
Good news, bad news
The good news is, the DfT has found no evidence of any illegal defeat
devices like those found on 11 million Volkswagen vehicles worldwide.
Also, none of the models tested were technically in violation of U.K.
law, since emissions regulations mandate that vehicles must pass lab
tests, not road tests.
The bad news--at least for automakers--is that the U.K. government is in
the process of implementing new, real-world emissions tests for new
cars. Those tests are expected to roll out next year.
At first, automakers will be given some leeway, with vehicles allowed to
emit roughly twice the level of pollutants on the road as in the lab. By
2020, however, standards for both lab and road tests will be the same.
Don't be surprised if the EPA institutes similar testing procedures here
in the U.S. very soon.
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