Diesel cars pollution scandal gets still worse

This video from the USA says about itself:

Volkswagen’s diesel scandal, explained

24 September 2015

The EPA announced that Volkswagen was using a “defeat device” to side-step emission laws. Here’s what that means.

Translated from Deutschlandfunk radio in Germany:

12.01.2017

Diesel scandal

Particulate filter manipulated to a large extent?

A new public image problem for the diesel passenger car. Experts suggest: The particulate filter, which is responsible for particulate matter filtration, often does not work at all or is not sufficient. Actually, the EU had set standards for testing – but Germany is an exception to that and the car corporations’ lobby wants to prevent a tightening.

By Thomas Wagner

Diesel particulate filters, DPF for short, have an important task: to get harmful soot particles out of the exhaust gases. However:

“The problem is that there is no sensor system or control unit to control whether the DPF is properly operating, so the exhaust gas can pass through the filter unfiltered and get blown unfiltered into the environment.”

Writes a car specialist in an email to the Deutschlandfunk radio.

“It does not surprise me at all. The sensors used in the cars and diesel engines have no way of knowing whether the diesel particulate filter is working, whether it is available at all.”

Thus, Jürgen Resch, Managing Director of the German NGO Environmental Aid. Also from his point of view, there are no reliable practices for detecting faulty diesel particulate filters.

…

According to the findings of the German environmental aid, many more diesel cars with defective or deactivated diesel particulate filters are on the road on Germany’s roads than previously suspected. …

According to an EU guideline, an exhaust gas inspection is actually required at the exhaust pipe during the main test of a car. Exception: Germany.

VOLKSWAGEN TO PAY $4.3 BILLION FOR EMISSIONS SCANDAL And six executives have been indicted for their role in helping the company cheat on diesel emissions tests for a decade. [Reuters]