VW shares plummet after being caught out.

Sloppy Bob

I doubt VW have fudged their CO2 emissions anymore than any other brand as they all come in roughly about the same for the same type of car and size of engine.

The whole thing in the US was based on NOx emissions which are totally different and it must have been obvious that something was off as all their competitors had to use an additive to pass the regulations. VW miraculously didn't which would have made all the competition scratch their head. How they didn't get caught ages ago is a miracle.

qfk123

As a owner of a UK Golf 2010 MK6 2.0 TDI who enjoys his car not sure how this will affect me .  Future hike in road tax , resale value much lower than I expected .

VW tdi in the used market kept there prices much better than rivals.

Trollslayer

I suspect VW are just the first to get caught out and hit the headlines.

qfk123

I'm pretty certain the EU knew about this years ago . I'm also guessing Merkel and her cronies were in the circle of trust/ ignorance regarding  what was going on but as it benefitted their coffers then they turned a blind eye .

The deception involved hundreds maybe  thousands of people. Will be interesting IF ( I emphasise IF ) BMW and  Merc were  doing something similar or was it just VAG trying to pull fast a  one .

Anyone else seeing brown envelopes of money changing hands in the past

delanoster

The potential worry in Europe would be with the new Euro VI emissions standards that came into effect in 2014. The amount of NOx now allowed has dropped from 0.180 g/Km to 0.080 g/km. That's a large amount to engineer out!

nheather

Taxes are based on CO2 values which apparently aren't in question.  It is the NOx emissions that are under fire which is still bad but the road fund licence and company car tax are not based on them.

Cheers,

Nigel

delanoster

Nigel that depends on how they managed to reduce the NOx levels to meet the Euro VI levels.
One way is to add more fuel to the cylinder which cools the mixture and reduces the production of NOx at the expense of lower MPG and higher CO2 - this is what happened in the US.
If the cheating car is to meet Euro VI legitimately then it will have to alter the fuel/air mixture permanently thus leading to higher CO2 and potentially a higher tax bracket.

For a 2010 car there is little to worry about as the NOx emission standards were more relaxed then.

Ragnarok

LPG has has more energy per kilo, that more than made up for by the hulking great tanks.

That said I've been driving on LPG for ages. I wouldn't go back to diesel.  I had a feeling diesels NOx and pm emissions which are the main contributors to smog and air quality would come back to bite diesels and Euro governments in the arse for years. Mostly because the Government have a CO2 fetish which hardly effects air quality just like the climate change flavor of the last couple of decades.

I think Geologists forgot to inform Governments exactly what they have learnt about CO2 and temperature historically, a CO2 rises follow temperature rises, not the other way around. Air quality is far more important and noticeable than CO2 emissions and has a clear, measurable effect on health. It'll only take 1 major volcanic eruption to put all there world wide CO2 targets in the bin for a century.

delanoster

I don't disagree with you about the obsession over CO2 levels at all!
I wonder why LPG never became mainstream though? Cost to produce/transport? Safety "fears"? Genuine question BTW!

I have a 2012 VW CC with the 2l TDI and I'm thinking about my next car; I've ruled out electric due to the high initial costs (or guaranteed future values depending on how you look), hybrids are a fudge at the moment so it's petrol or diesel. If I buy new it'll be petrol, if second hand then likely diesel again just for the better MPG!

Trollslayer

And result of some politicians being  more interested in grabbing headlines than anything else.