VW Faces $17B Fine for Emissions Scam

Here is another suit from the law firm:
Mercedes BlueTEC Diesel FAQ | Hagens Berman | National Class Action Litigation Firm based in Seattle, WA

Bob Wilson

 

are they also in trouble with the epa ?

 

Apparently not. The EPA asked for additional data from Daimler several moths ago, but no NOV has been issued yet.

VW emissions scandal: German government finds that only VW Group used defeat devices

 

I don't know of any EPA action.

My understanding is the initial testing found a diesel was OK. But we know that in Europe, Mercedes turns off emissions below 50F/10C. This latest update comes at the end of winter. FYI, the U of West Virginia study had a "BMW X5" that passed.

Bob Wilson

Every now and then, you come across a group that publishes non-sense publications: CATO, NRA, National Review. Now we can add "RAC Foundation."

Source:

Would a diesel car scrappage scheme improve air quality?

In response to the news in September 2015 that VW cheated emissions tests on their diesel cars in the United States, and concerns about the difference between real world emissions compared to those recorded in the lab, there have been various calls for the consideration of a scrappage scheme for diesel cars, including by the former Labour science minister Lord Drayson:

"We have a much better understanding than we did just a few years ago of the health effects of the products of diesel, and they are literally killing people. It is clear that in retrospect that it was the wrong policy ... we have got to take action really quite quickly.

"I think we should have things like a car scrappage scheme where people who want to trade in their diesel get an electrical car or hybrid. I think that's something the government should support.”

A scrappage scheme would not be a new phenomenon. From May 2009 UK consumers were offered £2,000 to scrap pre-August 1999 cars: £1,000 coming from government and £1,000 coming from the industry. The scheme was unambiguously aimed at supporting the automotive sector. The Chancel-lor said: “To give a boost to the car industry during the current downturn, the Government announces the introduction of a vehicle scrappage scheme.”
. . .​

The first clue is the paper is very thin, five pages. Then the numbers are suspect. Finally, it ends with a serious of questions that a credible paper would address . . . not raise.

There is a style of writing found in denial papers:

A 2009 paper published in the European Journal of Public Health by Pascal Diethelm and Martin McKee discussed five characteristics common to scientific denialism:

1) Cherry picking;
2) Fake experts;
3) Misrepresentation and logical fallacies.
4) Impossible expectations of what research can deliver; and
5) Conspiracy theories;​

But I'm not a resident of the UK and "RAC Foundation" may be devoted to truth and the scientific method. Or maybe not.

ADDENDUM

By taking the oldest 1.9 million diesel cars off the road (those falling into the Euro 1, 2 and 3 stand-ards and accounting for 17.4% of the UK diesel fleet) there could be a reduction in NOx emissions from diesel cars of 27% if they emitted at Euro standard limits. But based on estimates of real-world NOx emissions, the reduction is lower at 15.5%.​

In an earlier table, they reported these same diesels emitted twice as much NOx, 11.9 k tonnes vs 23.9 k tones. But somehow, they played with percentages to lie their f*ckin' asses off. Whenever someone switches to 'percentages,' you can assume they are lying.

Bob Wilson

European version of what we call 'rolling coal': More than 1,000 diesel cars caught without pollution filter, figures show | Environment | The Guardian

However, many garages offer to circumvent the visual check by, for example, by “discreetly cutting a small window in the top of the chamber, removing the internal filter before rewelding the window and refitting to the vehicle. This way the vehicle still appears to have a DPF fitted and … will have no affect on your MOT.” Garages also claim removing the DPF will increase power and fuel efficiency, with one promising “your engine will breathe again”​

Bob Wilson

 

I remember a neighbor years ago. He was so proud of the device he found on the internet that increased MPG. He just plugged it in and the pickup ran better. Ugh. I didn't bother to tell him that it achieved that by circumventing some of the emission controls. It wasn't worth ticking off a neighbor who kept on his wife about picking up her dog's crap left in my yard. His wife drove a "clean diesel" Jetta. I could hear that thing clattering a block away. It was annoying. She'd idle it in the driveway during the winter too, anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes to warm it up before leaving for work. Some people just plain don't care.

 

Source: High diesel emissions are a European problem, says expert

A European problem

Franco emphasised that although the findings were made in the US, excessively high emissions from diesel cars were actually “a European problem”. Pointing to new passenger car registrations in 2014, he noted that just 1 percent of US cars were diesel compared with 53 percent of European cars.

But the emission limits for nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (lethal pollutants known together as NOx) in the US were half of those in the EU, Franco noted. This is why US diesel cars were equipped with better NOx-neutralising technology than those in the EU.

“This is a question of economics. If the regulatory framework in the US is so stringent that it forces the adoption of best technologies. The manufacturers simply did that,” said Franco.

“They mounted more technology in order to meet the standard. In Europe this was not required, manufacturers were able to meet the standard with less technology, they were able to get away with worse on-road performance, and that’s what we got.”​

Bob Wilson

 

Is this guy being bought off now? ... saying our US epa is 'better' ? Is he just making excuses? Deflecting?

wasn't it the US epa that concocted the ethanol wetdream? .... where in essence (exaggerated example) if you mix ethanol 50/50 with gas per gallon (effectively decreasing mpg) your 14mpg suburban now gets 28mpg, because your mpg is only based on the gasoline part if the gallon!

Oh yea ... the US epa ... always operating on the up-and-up

.

 

Personally, if ethanol were sold at the same retail mark-up as gasoline, I would have no problem buying it. Unfortunately, E85 is over-prices when looking at the spread between wholesale and retail gasoline and ethanol prices.

I'm OK with ethanol as a way to reduce oil imports. I'm not OK with it be over priced except in some ethanol producing states.

Bob Wilson

 

the epa is better than no spa. that's really all one can expect from government. same with newspapers.

 

Live video of EU commission looking at the diesel problem:

Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector - meeting 19/04/2016 (PM)

EU version of C-SPAN.

Bob Wilson

 

It is more effective than what the EU has regulating car emissions, and the slight anti-diesel bias help when it can to the US getting cleaner diesels than there.

As for the flex-fuel loop hole for CAFE, well, much of that pandering, both here and in the EU, is likely more because of the bosses outside of the agency than the ones that actually keep it running.

It is overpriced in states outside of the ethanol producers because of transportation costs. Ethanol would destroy the petroleum product pipelines if mixed with them in time. So it has to be trucked or trained to a gasoline distributation center. There it gets mixed with the piped in gas, and trucked to the stations.

I'd be okay with using E85 for oil import displacement, and the accompanying incentives, like the CAFE loophole, if its availability was likewise pushed and actually availble nationwide. Because that wasn't done, the EPA is going to force E15 on us to meet Congress's mandatory annual amount.

 

Uhhhh Ahhhh! Secret code words!!!

Source: VW diesel investigation major test deadline april

An internal investigation by Volkswagen AG into the diesel emissions scandal may not be ready by the end of the month, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the investigation.

The internal probe is said to be complicated by the use of code words, including "acoustic software" to describe various aspects of the so-called defeat devices that the automaker admitted to using in its cars to turn off emissions equipment when cars were not in testing mode. Bloomberg reports that some 450 internal and external investigators have zeroed in on a group of about 20 VW employees.

The results of the internal probe conducted by the U.S. law firm Jones Day were expected by the end of the month, though this is now in doubt as Automotive News is citing reports that VW investigators have not turned up anything that could be used to build a case against specific individuals. The investigators have been sifting through terabytes of data from some 1,500 laptops and other devices since last fall, but multiple issues are said to be making it difficult for investigators to tie the creation of the defeat devices to identifiable employees.

German media reports now paint an uncertain picture of the outcome of the investigation, raising fears that VW may not be able to pinpoint those responsible for the creation of the software, despite suspending several top managers.

"The issue is on the agenda of the meeting since the company promised to deliver answers by the end of next week, so I am sure we will all know more on Friday," a person close to the board told Automotive News.
. . .​

So who will be the actors in the movie version?












And as the programmer:



Screen play: Driver tries to shake off pursuing police officer using James Bond-style smoke screen in car - Mirror Online

Technical adviser:


Bob Wilson

 

No current Presidential candidates could fulfill this role. Nope

 

Code words?!

Aha...

 

VW investigating itself will provide an accurate account of what happened? Only an idiot would take that report seriously. (No shortage of those however.)

 

++

Which reminds me, I watched the EU commission hearing and realized their politicians are just as clueless as our Congress critters. But the ICCT guy was pretty smart.

Bob Wilson

 

VW expected to offer to buy back nearly 500,000 U.S. diesel vehicles

Buyback at pre-scandal price plus $5,000? Why yes, I'll take that, thank you. Adios, TDI, hello new Volt or Prius.

 

maybe I should run out and buy a half a dozen or so of those tainted suckers before VW snaps 'em all up. That might just about pay for our model X !!

 

is gm being sued?

i wonder how euro customers will feel when they hear this?

 

Ripped off?
.