原文

"Obviously, we do not know the full details because this matter is the subject of on-going legislative action in the US.

"However, what we do know is that a comparative study [1] identified large differences between the real world vehicle emissions of some vehicles manufactured by VW and the levels the same vehicle emitted during the regulatory tests used by the US.

"The regulatory tests measure the emission rates of species including CO2, and NOx across a defined range of driving activities (collectively known as a drive cycle), which must remain below limits set by regulatory bodies.The US vehicle emissions regulation test procedures, like similar tests elsewhere including the UK, are intended to minimise the impact of traffic-related pollution, so this is an important issue.

"However, the gap between on-road and test measurements is not itself the big news. The much more important issue is that this looks like a deliberate attempt to circumvent the test procedures.

"Both US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of California Air Resources Board (ARB) have issued compliance letters to this effect [2-3] and VW have now publically apologised.

"It looks like about 11 million vehicles worldwide are going to be recalled as part of corrective measures [4].This supports the earlier ICCT statement on the subject [5], which recognises this as an issue that had significant international as well as US implications.

"Legal actions of this nature are highly delicate, and we are unlike to hear too many details for a while, if ever.

"However, we do know the US EPA are describing this as both a “sophisticated software algorithm” and, more importantly a “defeat device”, their legislative terminology for a device intended to deliberately circumvent the test procedures. They go on to describe the defeat device as “installed software” in the vehicle’s on-board management system that operated a “switch” that applies a different engine management map in situations where testing is detected. The parameters used by the switch were listed as including “the position of the steering wheel, vehicle speed, the duration of the engine operation and barometric pressure” and they used the wording "precisely track."

"This claim (if proven) suggests a much more sophisticated attempt to cheat the test than that encountered in the late 1990s, when previously other vehicle manufacturers were the subject of a similar action [6], and that was an action that resulted in the biggest settlement of its day."

[1] http://www.theicct.org/use-emissions-testing-light-duty-diesel-vehicles-us

[2]http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/21b8983ffa5d0e4685257dd4006b85e2/dfc8e33b5ab162b985257ec40057813b!OpenDocument

[3]http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/in_use_compliance_letter.htm

[4] See e.g. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/business/international/volkswagen-diesel-car-scandal.html

[5] http://www.theicct.org/news/epas-notice-violation-clean-air-act-volkswagen-press-statement

原文

“VW have admitted to having deliberately designed and manufactured vehicles with a device to render inoperable the emission control system of diesel cars sold in the USA.  The USEPA have issued a Notice of Violation of the Clean Air Act whilst the California Air Resources Board is issuing an In use Compliance Letter to VW. VW have deliberately set out to deceive and in so doing have put at risk public health from increased air pollution.

“All vehicle manufacturers must now seek to regain the trust of consumers by demonstrating that they have not engaged in such practices either in the US, the EU or other markets.  The utmost transparency is now required.

“Emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) remain a major problem in the US and the EU. Concentrations of NOx have not fallen as much as expected despite the introduction of new technology on vehicles. If the deliberate bypassing of emission control systems is more widespread than just VW diesel sales in the US then it may help explain what has been observed in measurements of air pollution in cities.”