Many more diesel manufacturers have been implicated in Dieselgate in Europe in what is probably the biggest emissions cheating scandal in automotive history.
The result of the obsolete and failing vehicle testing system in Europe is that consumers are grossly misled and deceived about the product they buy, there is huge damage to the environment from high CO2 and air pollutant emissions, and no level playing for the industry to compete on a fair footing. In fact, most passenger cars do not meet the limits on air pollution or CO2 emissions that are claimed.
Since 2015, when Volkswagen was found cheating on emissions in the US, many more diesel manufacturers have been implicated in Europe in what is probably the biggest emissions cheating scandal in automotive history. A number of national emissions investigations, notably in Germany, France and the UK, concluded that the vast majority of diesel cars and vans sold and driven across Europe grossly exceeded legal NOx pollution limits in real-world use. On average, the worst performing vehicles were produced by Fiat, Renault and Opel, according to the data. T&E’s latest analysis puts the figure of grossly polluting Euro 5 and 6 diesels at at least 43 million cars and vans sold between 2008 and 2017, or nearly 80% of all diesel vehicles registered in that period – the poisonous legacy of Dieselgate.
Similarly, T&E’s Mind the Gap 2016 report highlighted that the gap between test and real-world CO2 figures has grown to 42%. The Mercedes A and E class are the worst offenders, consuming on average 56% more fuel on the road than claimed in the sales brochure. Audi, Smart and Volvo follow suit and consume around 50% more fuel (twice the CO2 emissions on the road) than their lab test results claim, costing the average driver around €550 a year.
