VW caught because boffins were poor

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SONY DSC

Published Oct 19, 2015

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Morgantown, West Virginia - The Volkswagen emissions scandal was uncovered only because researchers couldn’t afford to test more expensive cars.

The American engineers who discovered that Volkswagen used a ‘cheat device’ to pass emissions tests said they originally wanted to test Mercedes and BMW diesels, but the cars were too pricey to rent. Instead, they used a VW Passat and a VW Jetta sedan, as well as a BMW X5 - without suspecting the Volkswagens were fitted with the device.

The testers spent a month driving the three cars around California with specialist monitoring equipment.

The results showed the two Volkswagen models would pump out as much as 40 times the allowed levels of nitrogen oxide. When this was later corroborated by the US Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board, it sent the German car firm into near meltdown.

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Daniel Carder, who led the testing team from the Centre for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions at West Virginia University, said: “We didn’t set out to trap Volkswagen - it was just that we could spend less money on using their cars.”

More than 11 million cars are being recalled worldwide and Volkswagen has set aside €6.5 billion (R96 billion) to deal with the fallout from the scandal, but analysts at Credit Suisse say it could cost it closer to €77 billion (R1147 billion).

Meanwhile, a survey found that public trust in the motor industry has been badly damaged, with nearly eight in 10 people now saying they expect more manufacturers to be drawn in to the scandal.

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