French investigators have found a large number of diesel cars emit much higher levels of pollution than their European manufacturers claim.
The claims were revealed by France’s environment ministry after a 10-month investigation ordered following the “Dieselgate” scandal over Volkswagen’s use of software to cheat emissions tests.
According to the independent committee’s report, around a third of the 86 diesel vehicles tested produced levels of toxic nitrogen oxides (NOx) well above European limits. The results echo similar findings in tests by the UK’s Department for Transport.
The worst offenders were the Fiat 500X, Volvo V40, the Renault Talisman and Espace models, the Nissan Qashqai and the Ford Kuga, Opel Astra and Mokka.
The experts said they could not categorically state whether any carmaker had used software to cheat the emissions tests as they had no access to the computer programmes used by the manufacturers.
“The commission cannot, therefore, make any definitive statement on the presence or absence of ‘cheating’ software in the vehicles tested,” it reported.
The report found the Renault Talisman recorded 57.6mg NOx per kilometre in lab tests against a real world figure of 926.1mg/km. The worst offender, the Fiat 500X, was found to emit 1,354mg/km as opposed to 68.2mg/km, or almost 17 times the legal limit.
However, French media was sceptical the government would sanction Renault, a partially state-owned company.
In an article entitled Renault pollutes but runs no risks, the business magazine Challenges said: “the line is hazy between cheating and optimisation … in short, what might be barely morally defensible would be perfectly legal. The chances are pretty slim that any constructor will suffer the slightest reproach. The royal commission [which produced the report], like all its European counterparts, seems little more than a waste of time.”
In January, when the first draft of the report was revealed, Renault promised to draw up a “technical plan” to reduce its vehicles’ emissions. Renault executive vice-president of sales and marketing, Thierry Koskas, insisted then: “Renault has not cheated.”
Didier Laurent, car expert and director of Auto Press Club, said: “I’m personally convinced other constructors have been able to install the ‘cheat’ software and VW isn’t the only one at fault. But we still have to prove it. The investigations carried out by the commissions experts are not sufficiently profound to allow us to determine.
“One thing is for sure, the level of polluting emissions and fuel consumption officially declared by the carmakers is one vast trick. Everyone is cheating one way or another …”
Greg Archer, clean vehicles director at the campaign group Transport and Environment, said: “The results released by the royal commission show the majority of diesel cars are illegally producing sky-high levels of pollution when they are not in hot laboratories.”
The French report concluded: “At this stage, the commission has no evidence of the use of any illegal methods, but cannot exclude this hypothesis, that can only be confirmed or refuted by more profound investigations.”
It called on manufacturers to “strengthen the environmental performances” of vehicles currently on the market, and insisted that greater transparency was needed from companies. It said the true emissions figures should be made public and motorists urged to buy less polluting models.
In a statement, Ségolène Royal said: “This is a question of confidence. The manufacturers will be made to face up to their responsibilities because air pollution is a serious problem over which we cannot procrastinate or take lightly.”
Source: The Guardian
