Porsche sinks in the exhaust fog

Porsche For the time being, it will not be able to sell any new cars that have been put together to order because the certification is stuck to the new emissions standard. These news has alarmed industry and politics, Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer has nachgehakt directly at Porsche, it is already suspected, here is the next scam smelling. But it’s not about diesel engines, which has the sports car manufacturer already months ago from the offer deleted, and it’s not about cheating. It’s about gasoline engines, more precisely direct-injection gasoline engines. As with all other manufacturers, they can only fulfill the WLTP standard, which is fully applicable from September, if a particulate filter is installed. By the way: Particulate filters have been standard in the much-maligned diesel for many years. The industry was supposed to be able to bring about such a reorganization. After all, they knew in good time, the unanimous opinion is now. But it’s not that simple.

Holger Appel

Editor in the business, responsible for “technology and engine”.

The changeover from the previous NEDC cycle to WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Duty Vehicles Test Procedure) and its even stricter Compendium RDE (Real Driving Emissions) is intended to bring consumption and exhaust emissions closer to reality. And because the EU Commission takes it very precisely, not only the speeds to be traveled on the chassis dynamometer, the track lengths and the temperatures were changed, but also the influencing variables. The most important: Vehicle weight and additional equipment are included in the evaluation. So it makes a difference in the future, whether a model with sunroof or sold without, whether with or without trailer hitch, whether with steel or aluminum wheels. Every single variant and every engine-transmission combination has to be certified. The test stands have therefore been running around the clock for months and yet are not enough. The Kraftfahrtbundesamt It is said that it does not comply with the processing of applications. The immense effort has probably underestimated some of the participants. Not the car industry, but he did not believe anyone in the middle of the VW diesel scandal.

Far-reaching consequences

In December 2016, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) criticized the decisions of the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles at the time: “The deadlines that have been introduced intervene in the ongoing product cycles, thus rendering car manufacturers unpredictable. Here the political will to recognize the limits of the feasible is missing. Rather, it gives the impression that the EU Commission wants to show its capacity to act in the light of the events of the past year and has lost its sense of proportion. It overrides its own goals of ‘better regulation’ and ‘more growth and employment’, “the press release said. And: The consequences of this decision are far-reaching, because a conversion of all models in the current production in the given time is impossible.