wemay
Site Donor 2023
Wait, WHAT? VW's Emissions-Cheating Software Might Technically Be Legal in Europe
BY BOB SOROKANICH Road & Track
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car...egal-in-europe/
Quote:
Europe's regulations specify that "the settings of the engine and of the vehicle's controls shall be those prescribed by the manufacturer." That's a very broad definition—one that would seem to allow a specific software setting that's only triggered during government emissions testing, as Volkswagen's diesel cheating software has been found to do.
This discovery only further highlights the porous nature of Europe's vehicle emissions laws. The EU's system allows automakers to submit preproduction vehicles for testing, and tweaks that would never be performed by a typical consumer—like removing the rear seats to reduce weight, or sealing up panel gaps with tape—are allowed under the EU's current rules, NYT reports.
But while these finicky changes might add up to marginal improvements in testing, allowing an automaker to specify the engine management software used during emissions testing opens up a whole new level of emissions trickery. And Europe's system, which lacks central oversight, allows automakers to submit to testing in any of the 28 member states, with results being recognized across the EU.
"What we have developed is a phony system of testing where the member states [of the European Union] are in competition with each other for who can make it the most easy for the car manufacturers to pass the test," Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, told NYT.
Now, it's up to the EU to determine whether VW's tricks actually broke the vaguely-worded law. Lucia Caudet, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, told NYT in an email that the governing body has "no formal view" on whether the software in question counts as "a 'defeat device' in the EU legal sense or not."
via TTAC
BY BOB SOROKANICH Road & Track
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car...egal-in-europe/
Quote:
Europe's regulations specify that "the settings of the engine and of the vehicle's controls shall be those prescribed by the manufacturer." That's a very broad definition—one that would seem to allow a specific software setting that's only triggered during government emissions testing, as Volkswagen's diesel cheating software has been found to do.
This discovery only further highlights the porous nature of Europe's vehicle emissions laws. The EU's system allows automakers to submit preproduction vehicles for testing, and tweaks that would never be performed by a typical consumer—like removing the rear seats to reduce weight, or sealing up panel gaps with tape—are allowed under the EU's current rules, NYT reports.
But while these finicky changes might add up to marginal improvements in testing, allowing an automaker to specify the engine management software used during emissions testing opens up a whole new level of emissions trickery. And Europe's system, which lacks central oversight, allows automakers to submit to testing in any of the 28 member states, with results being recognized across the EU.
"What we have developed is a phony system of testing where the member states [of the European Union] are in competition with each other for who can make it the most easy for the car manufacturers to pass the test," Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, told NYT.
Now, it's up to the EU to determine whether VW's tricks actually broke the vaguely-worded law. Lucia Caudet, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, told NYT in an email that the governing body has "no formal view" on whether the software in question counts as "a 'defeat device' in the EU legal sense or not."
via TTAC
