Turn the emissions control systems on
Much has been reported in recent days about the Volkswagen emissions control scandal. Little has been said about what to do about it. It’s simple – turn the emissions control systems on.
Having read many reports about the situation, it is clear now that Volkswagen has emissions control systems in place on their diesel engine vehicles that, when operating, place these vehicles in compliance with emissions regulations. What Volkswagen has chosen to do, at least since the 2009 model year on several diesel engine model vehicles, is to turn these emissions controls off when being driven by consumers, and turn these controls on when being tested for their emissions. Volkswagen has employed emissions defeat devices before in the United States, dating back to the origination of emissions control systems in 1973 models. In both instances, these were not unintentional errors but deliberate actions taken to sidestep regulations.
In a statement Volkswagen CEO of the Volkswagen brand Herbert Diess said “We are working at full speed on a technical solution.” It seems they already have a technical solution – turn the emissions control systems on.
The problem with this is that the emissions control systems are turned off while consumers are driving to achieve other goals such as better fuel economy and performance. VW rightly fears that their customers won’t like their vehicles performance or fuel economy with these systems restored to proper operation which is why they are now looking for a “technical solution.” In other words, what they should have done in the first place – develop a system that could control emissions and still provide the customer with the performance and fuel economy they desire. VW has sold over 11 million vehicles globally with this defeat system in place.
Perhaps it’s time for Volkswagen to come up with another name for its TDI technology other than the Clean Diesel they’ve used in the past. Perhaps you can provide some assistance with that.