Photo: Emissions Analytics
After being stigmatized, pointed at, and put on the same level of morality as Satan, Volkswagen could be getting some redemption after an independent body called Emissions Analytics tested over 400 vehicles for real-life emissions.
Next year, the EU will introduce a new set of laws regulating the way exhaust emissions are measured, in an attempt to get the official figures more in line with the reality. Emissions Analytics used the same protocol and equipment that the 2017 Real Driving Emissions test will be employing as well, and their results might be somewhat shocking.
The tests included Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel, gasoline and hybrid cars, but since the whole Dieselgate thing is still fresh, we'll focus on the latter. Obviously, the main marker everyone was interested in were the nitrous oxide emissions, since we all know that CO2 is not a problem for engines using ignition by compression. Worryingly enough, only 30 percent of the diesel models that took part in the tests met the emission requirements that will come into effect starting next year.
Emissions Analytics had 62 Euro 6 diesel cars in the tests, but only seven of them produced levels of NOx that would be deemed acceptable by the 2017 standards (that's up to 0.08 g/km of NOx) that will apply to new cars. And here is the funny part: out of the seven that made the cut, six were using Volkswagen TDI engines.
It's well known that the engines affected by the Dieselgate scandal met the Euro5 emissions standard, and Volkswagen has always claimed that its Euro6 TDIs are as clean as a diesel can be, but once you've cried wolf without there being one, nobody's going to take your word for it. These independent tests, however, show that if you have to buy a diesel car, you can do a lot worse than a Euro6 Volkswagen.
In fact, the only non-Volkswagen intruder among the seven who got the top rating was a BMW 3 Series. However, the good news seems to be restricted to the 1.6- and 2.0-liter TDI engines, as the 3.0-liter V6 diesel in the Audi A8 ended up with the third-worst result, being "bested" only by the Fiat 500x (1.6-liter) and the Ssangyong Korando (2.2-liter). The tests were carried out by Emissions Analytics as part of the AQUA Air Quality Index and are quoted by British publication the Daily Mail.
The tests included Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel, gasoline and hybrid cars, but since the whole Dieselgate thing is still fresh, we'll focus on the latter. Obviously, the main marker everyone was interested in were the nitrous oxide emissions, since we all know that CO2 is not a problem for engines using ignition by compression. Worryingly enough, only 30 percent of the diesel models that took part in the tests met the emission requirements that will come into effect starting next year.
Emissions Analytics had 62 Euro 6 diesel cars in the tests, but only seven of them produced levels of NOx that would be deemed acceptable by the 2017 standards (that's up to 0.08 g/km of NOx) that will apply to new cars. And here is the funny part: out of the seven that made the cut, six were using Volkswagen TDI engines.
It's well known that the engines affected by the Dieselgate scandal met the Euro5 emissions standard, and Volkswagen has always claimed that its Euro6 TDIs are as clean as a diesel can be, but once you've cried wolf without there being one, nobody's going to take your word for it. These independent tests, however, show that if you have to buy a diesel car, you can do a lot worse than a Euro6 Volkswagen.
In fact, the only non-Volkswagen intruder among the seven who got the top rating was a BMW 3 Series. However, the good news seems to be restricted to the 1.6- and 2.0-liter TDI engines, as the 3.0-liter V6 diesel in the Audi A8 ended up with the third-worst result, being "bested" only by the Fiat 500x (1.6-liter) and the Ssangyong Korando (2.2-liter). The tests were carried out by Emissions Analytics as part of the AQUA Air Quality Index and are quoted by British publication the Daily Mail.
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