The abbreviation TDI was the epitome of the technical advance of the VW Group, in 2015 it mutated into a symbol of the diesel scandal. Since then, however, the Euro 6 diesels have become cleaner.
Image: dpa
Indignation about cheat diesel from 2011 to 2015 cannot help environmental protection today. More insight into the work of the car developers, on the other hand.
Does the judgment of the Schleswig Administrative Court against the Federal Motor Transport Authority now mean “a very good day for clean air and the health of all people in Germany”, as the plaintiff German Environmental Aid Association claims? The judges recently ruled in the first instance that too much nitrogen oxide is still escaping from a scandal-ridden diesel engine from the Volkswagen group from the Euro 5 years 2011 to 2015. The improvements – supervised by the Federal Motor Transport Authority – are not sufficient. If the next instances confirm the verdict, the type approval for the affected Golf Diesel models could expire. The cars should no longer drive like this, they would have to be retrofitted or shut down. VW would probably have to pay compensation for this.
After the intentional fraud with VW diesel models in California, where exhaust gas cleaning only worked in laboratory tests but not on the road, the German Federal Motor Transport Authority tested a number of cars more closely than usual in the laboratory until 2016. A Volkswagen engine, the 2-liter diesel, also had a general defeat device in Europe. Although cars from different brands passed the tests under laboratory conditions, they emitted more pollutants under slightly different conditions.