This reminds me of the novel I read that was written by an armored car robber. It detailed all the preparatory work they did prior to a heist, and all I could think of was, "man, these guys are smart enough to make good money doing something legitimate, they wouldn't have to work as hard and there wouldn't be an inevitable stint in the joint." Just design the emission system to work. What I'd like to know in the Volkswagen case is whether they were charging customers to refill the DEF tank in their cars, even if it wasn't being used. Now that would really piss people off.
So VW recalls all the cars with the cheater chip and replaces them with a chip that is EPA compliant. Immediately, the mileage and horsepower drop significantly—while urea consumption rates soar. Car owners figure out way to reinstall the cheater chip and keep the compliant chip for the days when they need to pass inspection.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone besides me think the problem is unrealistic NOx standards for diesel engines—and that other companies will be busted for something similar?
If so, Cat really stepped on their dicks by not installing the chips and just getting out of the on-road diesel engine business. Cummins will be the one to watch.
ReplyDeleteI had an transportation engineering prof assert in 1973 that the proposed standards for diesel NOx emissions were going to be physically impossible to meet. Looks like he was right.
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