Photo: YouTube screenshot
When the Dieselgate fiasco broke out, it was widely believed that Volkswagen wasn’t going to be the only company whose unorthodox practices would be uncovered, but the rest somehow managed to pull through.
However, just because they don’t use defeat devices developed specifically for the purpose of reducing emissions during laboratory testing, that doesn’t automatically make the values found accurate to the vehicle’s real-world numbers. Not by a mile.
The automakers are well aware of how the testing procedure unfolds and will do anything in their power to take advantage of the slightest vulnerability. Real-world testing would reduce the margin for interference, but even they aren’t 100 percent fool-proof. For instance, the presence of a human component – the driver – offers a whole new dimension to influencing the test results.
The sad truth is that, at the end of the day, these are more than just numbers on a piece of paper – the tailpipe pollution of all vehicles, but particularly those running a diesel engine, has real implications for the health of everyone around them.
A study published in Nature has managed to calculate the exact impact the difference between real world emissions of diesel-powered cars and their official numbers had on people’s health in 2015. The result is 38,000 lives lost prematurely to the air pollution allowed by a set of regulations that are clearly not stringent enough.
The study focused on 11 markets including the U.S., 28 European Union member states, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and South Korea – in total, these countries account for 80 percent of the global market for diesel vehicles.
By corroborating sales figures of diesel vehicles with the official emissions obtained through testing, the researchers came up with a number that should, in theory, match the real-world readings. In effect, they have found that “nearly one-third of on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions and over half of on-road light-duty diesel vehicle emissions are in excess of certification limits.”
This clearly shows the testing regulations are not doing what they are supposed to. Ideally, the two figures - those obtained through testing and those calculated for the real-world fleet of vehicles - should coincide, but we don't live in an ideal world, so it will never happen. However, that doesn't mean there isn't tremendous room for improvement.
“Adopting and enforcing next-generation standards [...] could nearly eliminate real-world diesel related NOx emissions in these markets,” the researchers conclude, which is exactly what the industry is preparing for. That is, of course, other studies don't turn out to be true and we'll all be driving electric cars by 2040, making all these emissions tests redundant.
The automakers are well aware of how the testing procedure unfolds and will do anything in their power to take advantage of the slightest vulnerability. Real-world testing would reduce the margin for interference, but even they aren’t 100 percent fool-proof. For instance, the presence of a human component – the driver – offers a whole new dimension to influencing the test results.
The sad truth is that, at the end of the day, these are more than just numbers on a piece of paper – the tailpipe pollution of all vehicles, but particularly those running a diesel engine, has real implications for the health of everyone around them.
A study published in Nature has managed to calculate the exact impact the difference between real world emissions of diesel-powered cars and their official numbers had on people’s health in 2015. The result is 38,000 lives lost prematurely to the air pollution allowed by a set of regulations that are clearly not stringent enough.
The study focused on 11 markets including the U.S., 28 European Union member states, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and South Korea – in total, these countries account for 80 percent of the global market for diesel vehicles.
By corroborating sales figures of diesel vehicles with the official emissions obtained through testing, the researchers came up with a number that should, in theory, match the real-world readings. In effect, they have found that “nearly one-third of on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions and over half of on-road light-duty diesel vehicle emissions are in excess of certification limits.”
This clearly shows the testing regulations are not doing what they are supposed to. Ideally, the two figures - those obtained through testing and those calculated for the real-world fleet of vehicles - should coincide, but we don't live in an ideal world, so it will never happen. However, that doesn't mean there isn't tremendous room for improvement.
“Adopting and enforcing next-generation standards [...] could nearly eliminate real-world diesel related NOx emissions in these markets,” the researchers conclude, which is exactly what the industry is preparing for. That is, of course, other studies don't turn out to be true and we'll all be driving electric cars by 2040, making all these emissions tests redundant.
Google News