Sydney, June 13 (The Conversation) Emission control systems in modern vehicles have significantly reduced air pollutants, including particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. However, these systems face two major obstacles: manufacturers that cheat on pollution tests and car owners who tamper with emission controls. Cheating allows high-polluting vehicles to be sold unlawfully, while tampering can increase certain pollutants up to 100 times.
Our latest research review highlights the global impact of both cheating and tampering on emissions. In Spain, researchers discovered that nearly half of diesel trucks had been tampered with. The Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal, exposed in 2015, resulted in estimated health costs of A$60 billion across the European Union.
In California, it was found that one in 12 trucks had a malfunctioning diesel particulate filter, with these high-emitting vehicles responsible for 70% of the particulate matter emissions of the entire fleet. The solution lies in better detection of tampering, cheating, and malfunctioning emission systems, alongside vigilance to remove high-polluting vehicles from the roads.
Historically, smog, air pollution, and health problems associated with car exhausts led regulators from the 1950s onward to enforce reduction measures on air pollutants from vehicles. Today, modern combustion-engine cars are advanced, computer-controlled systems designed to strike a balance between performance, durability, and emissions control. When functioning properly, these vehicles can cut air pollutant emissions by more than 90%, albeit with a slight increase in carbon dioxide emissions due to higher fuel consumption.
Pollutant levels can drastically increase if emission control systems fail or are manipulated. Both cheating and tampering date back to the 1970s and continue to deteriorate air quality, leading to significant health costs due to conditions like respiratory ailments and premature death.
While the presence of electric vehicles is growing, they represent only 5% of the global vehicle fleet, approximately 60 million compared to 1.5 billion petrol, diesel, and gas-powered vehicles. Given the long lifespan of cars, many fossil-fuel vehicles will remain operational well into 2050, often being exported from wealthier nations to developing regions. Hence, effective pollution control continues to be crucial.
Manufacturers' Cheating It’s well-documented that combustion engine cars emit far more pollutants during real-world driving than in regulatory tests. Various factors, including natural wear and tear, contribute to this disparity, but cheating is a significant issue.
Regulatory authorities use tests to determine whether new models meet emission standards. Manufacturers may exploit known test quirks and alter vehicle operations during tests, often by installing "defeat devices" in the car's engine or computer code. These devices trigger a low-emission mode during testing and are often easy for automakers to install but challenging to detect.
Defeat devices are predominantly found in diesel vehicles, where emission control systems are costlier and more intricate compared to petrol or LPG vehicles. For example, implementing a Euro 6 standard emission control system could add around $600 to a petrol car’s cost, with diesel systems being three to five times more expensive.
The 2015 Volkswagen scandal, where a software-based defeat device was used to make diesel cars appear cleaner, garnered global attention and cost the company approximately $50 billion. Those caught face heavy fines and mandatory recalls, yet the practice persists.
Despite tests requiring transparency under the law, this detail also makes it easier for manufacturers to cheat.
Owners' Tampering Tampering is typically carried out by owners of diesel vehicles seeking to enhance performance, oppose regulations, or dodge costs like purchasing AdBlue, which reduces nitrogen oxides emissions from diesel trucks. Although tampering is illegal, aftermarket devices that deactivate emission controls remain widely available. It’s generally not illegal to sell these devices, but it is unlawful to install and utilize them.
In the road freight industry, tampering offers an economic edge by undercutting law-abiding operators.
What Should Be Done? Combustion engine vehicles will remain on global roads for many years. Ensuring they operate cleanly throughout their lifecycle necessitates independent and consistent emissions testing, alongside stringent enforcement measures.
An internationally recognized protocol to detect defeat devices should be developed. Addressing tampering and malfunctioning emissions systems requires better detection, whether via on-road testing or during vehicle servicing.
One solution could be adding telemetry to the onboard diagnostic systems in modern vehicles. Telemetry transponders can report emissions issues to owners and relevant authorities for action.
The transition to electric vehicles provides a robust and cost-effective means of reducing fraud and emissions from road transport, but this shift will take time. Until then, it’s critical for authorities to ensure diesel and petrol vehicles operate as cleanly as possible until their eventual retirement. (The Conversation)
(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
