US, Canada, Germany to Expand Testing for All Diesel Vehicles, Not Just Volkswagen
Government agencies from the United States, Canada and Germany will be testing diesel vehicles from automakers other than Volkswagen to check their compliance with emission laws.
According to The New York Times, regulators in North America “are significantly expanding their on-the-road emissions tests to cover all makes and models of diesel cars.” The same on-road tests found 3-liter V-6 diesel engines to emit more NOx than they did in EPA testing.
The EPA had already notified General Motors that its new Colorado and Canyon diesel pickups would undergo increased scrutiny.
The new on-road testing initiative is expected to take “several weeks,” reported The New York Times.
Regulators in Germany are expanding “strict checks” to diesel vehicles from automakers other than Volkswagen, reported Reuters.
“We are currently carrying out strict checks on diesel vehicles from other manufacturers including foreign ones,” Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Bild on Saturday. The details of those strict checks were not disclosed.
More by Mark Stevenson
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This should go beyond just diesel fueled vehicles. I'd like to see the "real" figures for gasoline engines as well. This should be for FE, CO2, etc. Regulations should only be necessary to protect the consumer, not industry. All of the vehicle manufacturers really need to be audited. The auto industry whines and cries when regulatory measures are not in place to protect and promote uncompetitive business. But, when they flout regulations they should be held more to account. Another way to resolve the problem is to reduce the uncompetitive technical trade barriers every time a manufacturer screws up. Sooner or later the manufacturers will have to sink or swim. That is real business. Not penalise the chicken take out with a 25% tax, then give the hamburger takeout added protection by having unfair regulations biased towards the hamburger joint.
This kind of makes me happy here in Alberta. We are surrounded by Albertards driving modified diesel pickups, you know them, the one's that leave giant clouds of black smoke every time the dude wearing the bill tears away from the stoplight. Any form of testing to get these things either legal or off the road is going to be a major win.
The World Health Organization considers fine particulate matter pollution levels higher than 10 micrograms per cubic meter to be unsafe. The majority of American cities are in the safe zone, with the average pollution level at 9.6. Thirty-three percent of cities are above the W.H.O. standard. Those cities tend to be geographically dispersed throughout the United States, but are predictably cities with heavy industry and driving, like Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Outside of the W.H.O., the United States has its own particulate matter standard of 12 micrograms per cubic meter. The pollution in 13 percent of American cities is higher than that. Europe is a different story. The average European city has pollution levels that are double what the W.H.O. considers safe, at 21.7 micrograms per cubic meter. In total, 93 percent of Europe’s cities have unsafe levels of pollution when measured against the W.H.O.'s standards. The E.U.'s standard, against which member countries base their regulations, is much more lax than both the W.H.O. and the American standards, at 25 micrograms per cubic meter. Only a quarter of the E.U.'s cities fail to meet that standard. In the United States, only Fresno, Calif., would. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/upshot/pollution-around-the-world-a-matter-of-choices.html ___________________ Well, that was easy. Now please be quiet.
@Volandobajo Here is a website that gives the basics. A lot more to pollution than just No2 http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/why-clean-cars/air-pollution-and-health/cars-trucks-air-pollution.html#.VkLTano8arU