Four more automotive companies are now facing similar scrutiny as Volkswagen, as diesel vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi have all shown to emit more pollution on the road than when regulatory testing is taking place.
When certain Honda models were put through realistic driving simulations, the vehicles showed pollution levels of up to twenty times the allowable amount.
CEO of the company that conducted these tests, Emissions Analytics, Nick Molden stated that the issue is systematic across the entire automobile industry.
Other companies that are suspected of producing diesel vehicles that are producing more than the legal amount of pollution include Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Citroen, Fiat, Volvo and Jeep.
However, unlike Volkswagen, there are no reports of any of these companies employing cheating devices in their vehicles.
According to Emissions Analytics, only five of the nearly 200 diesel vehicles that were put through real world simulations matched the pollution levels shown in their regulatory tests.
This phenomenon has been occurring for years, but it wasn’t until Volkswagen crossed the line by using actual cheating devices that the issue came to attention. Molden reports that diesel vehicles produce about four times the legal limit of pollution on average. Car companies are able to get away with this because of the lenient nature of emissions testing.
While environmental agencies worldwide have tried to reform testing procedures, lobbies representing car manufacturers have worked against them. Some environmentalists are trying to do something about this.
Campaigner from Friends of the Earth Jenny Bates said, “With further manufacturers implicated, this is yet more evidence that this scandal goes way beyond VW, and should cause decision-makers to question the very future of diesel vehicles on our roads. This is a massive public health disgrace and the failure to prevent vehicles breaking pollution rules will have cost lives.”
Meanwhile, some car companies, such as Mercedes-Benz and Honda, have come out saying that they would support more intensive testing in order to improve industry standards.
But until testing procedures are changed, car manufacturers will continue to get away with skirting the rules.
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