Posted on 09/21/2015 4:37:27 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Shares in Volkswagen (VLKAF) crashed 20% Monday, wiping 16 billion euros ($18 billion) off the company's value after it was found to have misled U.S. regulators.
Federal and state regulators said Friday that the German company cheated on environmental standards by programming some diesel-fueled cars to turn on emission controls only when being tested.
Volkswagen, recently crowned the world's biggest carmaker by sales, also owns the Audi and Porsche brands.
The software is installed in nearly 500,000 cars on U.S. roads, including some of its luxury-brand Audi cars.
Regulators have ordered Volkswagen to recall the vehicles. The company said it was halting sales of some cars in the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Their problem is limited to diesel’s. It’s the massive $37k fine per car that is going to hurt. Not to mention recall expense and a big drop in gas mileage when the go legit.
Overall it’s pretty funny.
I have a VW TDI. There is US spec software and European spec software. A friend got an illegal copy of the European software and got 10% better mileage and improved acceleration. When he took the car in for something else they changed the software. He was unable to get the old stuff again as his source (mechanic) had moved on to something else. He was very unhappy with the change.
I certainly won’t let them touch my car for anything as I’m happy with it now. Changes made to tweak environmental numbers is often just that, a numbers game; like putting an air pump on to change the ppm without actually decreasing pollution.
This is the same EPA that recently destroyed a river in Colorado, then acted as though nothing happened.
Don’t trust them.
Ping.
Predictable.
Is VW really guilty or did they not contribute to the right people?
Political science at work in the automobile engineering field. Like global warming, the official figures are fudged to make a specific outcome show up in the stats, but the reality is often much different. By demanding conformity with a certain set of parameters, often a whole different but directly related objective is skewed off to one side.
Compare this with the effort to make the cholesterol count of every patient conform to some hypothetical standard. Taking certain drugs MAY force the cholesterol count to get into some “desirable” range, but at the cost of dislocating much else in the body metabolism, flushing out some highly necessary and vital blood components along with the “excess” cholesterol.
Sometimes the “cure” is of much more grave consequences than simply living with the disorder.
Bluster. The EPA was caught with its pants down (for 7 years): meaningless regulations that they cannot enforce. Some academic researchers (not the EPA or CARB) took the cars on real world driving tests and saw no difference on level highways with cruise control, just 10x higher NOX on hills. Then CARB picked up on it and forced some VW engineers to "admit" guilt. But read the statements from EPA, that is not an admission, it is some legal language (a verbatim quote of the law). What the engineers actually said was something else entirely.
Hence the 37k opening gambit. The EPA knows they have nothing.
Is Obama a Christian?
“When he took the car in for something else they changed the software.”
I’d be careful ever taking your VW to the dealer again either. One outcome, almost for certain, assuming that you’re even allowed to keep your car, is that you will have new software pushed, and you won’t like it. It’s almost worth going to a junkie to get a computer you can swap-in the car just for dealer visits.
Is the UAW involved with this?
“aking certain drugs MAY force the cholesterol count to get into some “desirable” range, but at the cost of dislocating much else in the body metabolism, flushing out some highly necessary and vital blood components along with the “excess” cholesterol.”
I agree, the docs are CLUELESS in this area, as far as I’m concerned - not to mention being totally compromised by big drugs. If I’m forced on statins (or whatever) just to receive medical care (which may well happen), then I’ll take them just prior to blood test, and drop right off of them again. I’ll play their little game back. They can bite me.
Removing the software means that the emission controls remain active at all times and will reduce performance, fuel economy, customer satisfaction and car value. Since the effect of nitrous oxide depends upon engine load, the 40x figure will mean that the greatest effect will be noticed in up-hill conditions and least effect in flat-land driving. In other words, good luck in San Francisco, higher altitudes and the mountains while driving in Florida and the Plains may be fine.
For those of us owning a TDI, this recall may be problematical, do we want the deleterious fix? If not, then NO dealership maintenance ever again. How will that effect trade-in and resale values? I smell lawyers circling!
A final thought though. While the POTENTIAL $37k FINE per vehicle (Federal and California might add more) is gob-smacking, IF VW has the technology to REPLACE the engine and/or components with a more efficient and legal one, it might cost less than the $37k and make for very loyal customers!
Read the admission: it is nothing other than a quote of the law. No engineer said anything so vague "bypass OR defeat OR render ineffective". What the EPA lawyers did was draft that statement in legalese and then make someone sign it.
That said, there are probably legitimate difference in software modes. Whether they would account for roughly 10x higher NOX on hills is debatable (a "hill" mode). On level highways, there is no difference, same mode.
The UAW tried to ram thru a Union at the Tenn plant ! They lost. VW pays. Pres VJ and Barry the Muslim are the vindictive Chicago machine crooks ever to be in the WH .
You think it’s funny that a car manufacturer ran afoul of draconian laws by the thuggish EPA? Interesting.
Ha, ha!
I like that feature, when can I buy one cheap?
Fahrvergnügen meets Schadenfreude.
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