September 25, 2015 — After Volkswagen (VW) admitted cheating emissions tests on diesel cars, other auto-makers have been sucked into the crisis.
German auto-makers BMW and Mercedes have been accused of selling vehicles that pollute more on the road than during emissions tests. BMW said it “does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests.”
The trade magazine Auto Bild published a report in which the diesel BMW X3 emitted 11-times more nitrous oxide than European law allows.
Emissions test results were also higher for a number of vehicles tested by Transport & Environment, which called VW’s cheating “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Nearly every Mercedes the group tested emitted 50% more carbon dioxide on the road than in the lab. Some vehicles made by BMW and General Motor’s Opel emitted 10X more pollution on the road than during emissions tests.
VW used a sophisticated software algorithm to sense when the car was being tested based on speed, steering angle, atmospheric pressure, and more. But researchers say there are a number of ways auto-makers can cheat the test:
“Through trickery, the gap between official fuel economy figures and those achieved by an average driver have grown to 40%. For new diesel cars nitrogen oxide emissions are typically five times higher on the road than the allowed limit and just one in 10 cars meets the required level on the road.”
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