Photo: berrimadiesel.com
This summer, Toyota was named as defendant in a class-action lawsuit over faulty diesel particulate filters (DPFs) in their Fortuner, Prado and Hilux vehicles. The lawsuit bespeaks a much more serious issue: Australia’s lax emissions standards.
ABC.net.au has spoken to scores of Toyota owners who say they’ve been cited for driving a smoky car. Under current standards (Australia adheres to the Euro 5 standard, while the old continent is preparing for Euro 6 and Euro 6d), a smoky car is one that blows smoke consecutively for 10 seconds, and it seems that there are plenty of Toyotas that do just that.
The issue is with their DPFs, which should trap and burn off diesel particulates, stopping them and other pollutants from getting into the air. Toyota owners say that their cars regularly blow up white smoke on startup at the lights, which also impacts fuel efficiency by up to 30 percent. Burning more fuel means releasing more CO2 in the air.
These owners also say that, after being cited by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) or related departments, they tried fixing the issue with their Toyota dealership. Some say their cars were never serviced, others claim the fix only worked for about 6 months and the cars started blowing up white smoke again.
According to Suzanne Harter, a clean energy campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia needs stricter regulations on emissions, or it will become a dumping ground for less performing vehicles on this front. As it is, it’s already receiving more polluting vehicles than other territories, for the simple reason that people here can buy and legally drive them.
“Australia is currently lagging behind the rest of the world on vehicle-emissions standards,” Harter explains to the media outlet. “I think it speaks to a larger problem in Australia that we need to improve our standards, improve our testing regimes… and make sure the vehicles that are coming into our country are both fuel efficient and are able to protect public health better.”
Dr. Vicki Kotsirilos from Doctors for the Environment also believes emissions testing should be more thorough, including real-world testing before the car comes out of the factory, and follow-up. The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) was intensively lobbying for that some years back, but progress halted in the meantime.
As Kotsirilos puts it, all emissions are bad for people’s health, but diesel emissions are the worst. “They are a class one carcinogen that can cause lung cancer and can contribute to heart and lung disease,” she says. “Vehicles that rely on diesel, that don't have proper filters, are more likely to emit diesel particulates into the air, and this would contribute to part of the air pollution problem.”
In a statement to ABC, Toyota says it’s encouraging owners of vehicles with faulty DPFs to contact their nearest Toyota dealership.
The issue is with their DPFs, which should trap and burn off diesel particulates, stopping them and other pollutants from getting into the air. Toyota owners say that their cars regularly blow up white smoke on startup at the lights, which also impacts fuel efficiency by up to 30 percent. Burning more fuel means releasing more CO2 in the air.
These owners also say that, after being cited by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) or related departments, they tried fixing the issue with their Toyota dealership. Some say their cars were never serviced, others claim the fix only worked for about 6 months and the cars started blowing up white smoke again.
According to Suzanne Harter, a clean energy campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia needs stricter regulations on emissions, or it will become a dumping ground for less performing vehicles on this front. As it is, it’s already receiving more polluting vehicles than other territories, for the simple reason that people here can buy and legally drive them.
“Australia is currently lagging behind the rest of the world on vehicle-emissions standards,” Harter explains to the media outlet. “I think it speaks to a larger problem in Australia that we need to improve our standards, improve our testing regimes… and make sure the vehicles that are coming into our country are both fuel efficient and are able to protect public health better.”
Dr. Vicki Kotsirilos from Doctors for the Environment also believes emissions testing should be more thorough, including real-world testing before the car comes out of the factory, and follow-up. The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) was intensively lobbying for that some years back, but progress halted in the meantime.
As Kotsirilos puts it, all emissions are bad for people’s health, but diesel emissions are the worst. “They are a class one carcinogen that can cause lung cancer and can contribute to heart and lung disease,” she says. “Vehicles that rely on diesel, that don't have proper filters, are more likely to emit diesel particulates into the air, and this would contribute to part of the air pollution problem.”
In a statement to ABC, Toyota says it’s encouraging owners of vehicles with faulty DPFs to contact their nearest Toyota dealership.
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