Mercedes, Peugeot, pollution scandals as well

This 7 April 2016 video is called New Lawsuit: Mercedes BlueTEC Diesels Fail Emissions Tests in Nearly All Real World Conditions.

A 11 October 2015 video which used to be on YouTube was called Diesel: BMW, Mercedes, Opel, PSA Cars Suspected Of Manipulating Emissions Tests Too.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

More polluting diesel cars discovered

Today, 17:59

Examined diesel cars from Opel, Mercedes, Audi

Audi is owned by the Volkswagen corporation.

and Peugeot in practice emit three to eight times as much nitrogen oxides (NOx) as allowed. This is evident from e-mails between TNO [Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research] and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, requested by the NOS using the Freedom of Information Act.

All cars tested do better on the dynamometer than on the road. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class 220 on the road even emits twenty times as much as in the test situation. …

A total of six Euro 6 diesel cars were tested, each of them dozens of times on the dynamometer and on the road: two Opel Zafira, a Peugeot 308, a Mercedes Benz C-Class 220, an Audi Q7 and a BMW 530d. With the exception of the BMW they all emitted much more than is permitted, the researchers write.

Fraudulent software

In September 2015 it came to light that Volkswagen put diesel cars on the market which were tuned so that they met all the requirements in the test on the dynamometer, but on the road emitted more nitrogen oxides. In the cars there was fraudulent software which recognized the situation and activated the systems that regulate the emissions only if the car was on the dynamometer. …

According to TNO, research shows that the systems in the car which reduce emissions of NOx software are adjusted so that when the conditions – such as temperature and speed – are different from the official test procedure the emissions will increase. On the highway, with fast acceleration at the traffic lights and at temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius operate the systems in many cases work no longer.

Mercedes

Eg, the Audi Q7 does well in the official approval test. But emissions skyrocket when there is a deviation from the test and the car is started with a warm engine rather than a cold engine. There is no good explanation for that. In the report TNO writes that it seems to suggest a ‘selective use of the NOx control’ by the car makers.

Most surprising, however, are the test results of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class 220. That car gets one of the best results on the dynamometer, even if there is deviation in many ways from the official test procedure. But if the car is on the road, emissions are on average about twenty-fold. “It seems that a diffent NOx reduction strategy is used on the dynamometer compared to on the road,” the report says. …

Renault

Renault yesterday announced that 15,800 cars are being recalled which emit too much NOx at high and low temperatures. …

Conversations

It is not clear why car makers have tuned cars so that they emit more than allowed in practice. Car industry association RAI will not reply to questions from the NOS. The ministry this summer invited six automakers to discuss the results from the TNO study. Two manufacturers wanted to cooperate. Whether these discussions have already happened and what has come out of them is not known.

RDW, the former National Road Traffic Organisation, this month hopes to begin a test program in which, together with TNO, cars will be specifically examined for the presence of fraudulent software.