Using exhaust gas measurements taken from the roadside, a team from the University of York and Empa was able to prove the Dieselgate scandal has led to positive results. The forced retrofitting of thousands of VW diesel engines saves the environment throughout Europe considerable amounts of Nitrogen oxide (NOx).
The VW diesel scandal began with a bang on September 18, 2015. On exactly the opening day of the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its "Notice of Violation": VW diesel engines with 1.6 and 2.0 liters displacement (type code EA 189) contained illegal software designed to manipulate emissions. It quickly became clear that 11 million vehicles of the VW group were affected worldwide. Company boss Martin Winterkorn resigned. Expensive lawsuits followed. In many countries, the EA 189 engines manufactured by the VW group had to be retrofitted with software or hardware updates.
Now – almost five years later – a study by the University of York and Empa shows that the retrofitting was successful from an environmental point of view. Retrofitted VW diesel engines emit up to a third less harmful nitrogen oxides in everyday use than engines with the original software dating from the Dieselgate era.
Read more at Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA)
Image: A Volkswagen Passat Diesel from 2011. Software updates after the Dieselgate-scandal in 2015 im-proved NOx-Emissions of such cars significantly. (Credit: Volkswagen, www.vwpress.co.uk)