Volkswagens in The UK Won't Get Same Fixes as US Cars
Volkswagen’s chief in the United Kingdom told representatives Monday that cars in that country likely wouldn’t need expensive urea tanks retrofitted to those cars to comply with emissions standards, AutoCar reported.
Volkswagen UK managing director Paul Willis told members of parliament that most of the 1.2 million cars in that country fitted with illegal “defeat devices” to cheat emissions tests would only need a software fix and not an additional urea tank that is widely believed to be needed in U.S. cars. About 400,000 cars would need a fuel injector replacement instead of the costly tank.
It’s likely that many of the cheating Volkswagens in the U.S. would need all or a combination of three fixes — software update, fuel injectors and a urea tank — to bring those cars into compliance.
Willis testified to the committee that the automaker “significantly let down its customers” by selling cars that polluted many times over the legal limit.
Willis criticized the European method for emissions tests as “old-fashioned and not fit for purpose,” but didn’t directly blame the test for the automaker’s actions.
“We mishandled the situation. That’s why we need to fix the cars, that’s why we need to get the customers in and need to put the cars right,” Willis said, according to the Belfast Telegraph. “We mishandled the situation without a shadow of a doubt.”
Last week, Volkswagen’s chief in America, Michael Horn, testified to a congressional committee that the automaker would take years to fix its cars.
(Photo courtesy Volkswagen)
More by Aaron Cole
Comments
Join the conversation
"... most of the 1.2 million cars in that country fitted with illegal “defeat devices” to cheat emissions tests would only need a software fix — not an additional urea tank that is widely believed to be needed in U.S. cars..." So... No urea device device fix for US VW diesels, then, Just a software fix? Guess the diesel engines still work though the software fix may just make it run the way it 'should'... spewing out More toxic emissions. But does that mean lower fuel efficiency? No word yet from VW on what the software fix 'will' do and the consequences. The environmentalists and state governments will enjoy roasting VW further as well as the attorneys from the class action suits.
It amazes me that some people want to leap to VW's defense on this issue. There is absolutely nothing defensible about their actions and the long running cover up. But then again, hating the EPA and CARB is a matter of religious devotion for some.
Outfitting the non-SCR cars in the USA with retrofitted SCR systems seems like an incredibly haphazard and poorly thought out activity. I just don't see VWoA doing it. But at the same time, I'm not sure they know what they are doing. It might be in their best business interests to throw a significant number of their customers under the bus by implementing a poorly thought out solution that will leave them unhappy, pay out a lawsuit settlement, and call it a pyrrhic victory. If they become disgruntled buyers and don't come back to VW for their next vehicle, well, so be it.
"Volkswagens in The UK Won’t Get Same Fixes as US Cars." Charles Dickens & black lung Brits everywhere approve. Whatever happened to the notion that Europe, including the UK, was more stringent in terms of greenhouse emissions than 'Murica?