Volkswagen UK boss gets grilled
Autocar has reported that VW UK boss Paul Willis has confirmed that his company’s defeat device did in fact affect EU emissions tests. He had previously said that the software-based emissions cheat was present on some vehicles in Europe.
Willis was put through a 45 minute “grilling” from the MPs on the transport select committee. He was asked whether the defeat device had been used during type approval testing for the Uk and he admitted, “It seems from what I understand – and I’m not an engineer – that the system of gas regulation in the engine influenced the NOx output in cars that we sell in the UK. These cars are type approved across all of Europe, of course, and they’re type approved in Germany, with separate people overlooking it.
“We mishandled the situation in so far as our engines behaved differently within the testing regime to the real world. That’s why we need to fix the cars, that’s why we need to get the customers in, and that’s why we need to put the cars right. We mishandled the situation, without a shadow of a doubt.
“It seems that in the test regime the engine behaved differently to the real-world situation via software. The software affected the flow of gas to the engine which reduced the NOx.”
Around 700 000 2,0-litre diesels and around 30 000 1,2-litre diesels will be fixed by software patches alone. However, Willis went on to say that 400 000 cars – believed to be those with 1,6-litre diesel engines – would need additional corrective work beyond a software upgrade, including new fuel injectors and that it would take a longer period of time.
Autocar goes on to report that Willis came under pressure on the amount of time taken by VW UK to remove affected vehicles – around 4 000 cars still on the market – from sale. He argued that the firm had acted as quickly as possible, saying, “On 22nd September we were made aware by VW headquarters in Wolfsburg that there was a potential problem with diesel engines. On 28th September we were getting more details and I phoned Mr McLoughlin [Patrick McLoughin, the Transport Secretary] to say to him that as soon as I knew which vehicles were affected, I would voluntarily stop selling those cars. That phone call took place at 3pm on 28th September.
“On 30th September, at 9am in the morning, I received the VIN numbers from the various different factories. And this is the point: there were eight days between when we first knew it affected Europe and when I stopped selling cars. And the reason for that is the complexity of the number of cars involved. There are 60 different models, five different brands, three different engines and two different transmissions.
“I found the VIN numbers out precisely at 9am, and at 1.30pm, once I had clarified it with the computer systems, I stopped selling those cars voluntarily. It took four hours and 30 minutes from the time I knew the affected cars until I took action – four hours and 30 minutes.”
In total, VW has said that just under 11 million vehicles worldwide have the software ‘defeat device’ that was exposed in American emissions tests last month. While two-thirds are thought to be fixable with a software upgrade, it’s believed that a total of 3.6 million affected VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat models – those featuring the 1.6-litre version of the EA189 turbodiesel engine – will require hardware changes to correct the issue. US models may require the addition of a urea tank, whereas European editions of the 1.6 are likely to need new fuel injectors.
VW’s new CEO Matthias Müller has pledged that all affected cars will be fixed by the end of next year. He added: “Our most important task will be to regain lost confidence with our customers, partners, investors and the general public. The first step in this direction will be a fast and relentless examination and explanation. Only when everything comes to the table, only when things are completely explained, only then will people trust us again.
“Believe me, I too am impatient. But in this situation, in which we are dealing with four brands and many models, care is more important than speed.
“The technical solutions to the problems are in sight. By contrast, the business and financial consequences are not yet foreseeable.”
Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat have launched websites that allow owners to check if their car is affected by the emissions scandal.
Autocar asks the biggest question surrounding this whole scandal, why? Why did VW cheat?
A senior source within the German car industry has shed light on the most significant outstanding question of the VW emissions scandal, namely why?
If the offending cars have all the emissions equipment on board to make the car compliant with the regulations, why take such an enormous risk engineering in the ‘defeat device’ to bypass that equipment?
“I expect it was pressure on the engineers that made them do it,” said the source. “Remember this system was designed some time ago when emissions controls were not as sophisticated as they are now, and the pressure to pass the tests would have been immense.
“And I imagine the reason they installed the defeat device is that without it there would have serious consequences not in the laboratory but on the road, either with the car’s performance, driveability, fuel consumption or some combination of the three.”
He went on to confirm that technology has since evolved sufficiently for there to be no need for such devices today.
Here is an apology VW made to their customers
Source: AutoCar