On 29 July, a bit ‘on the sly, in France still stunned by the murder of the elderly priest Jacques Hamel in Rouen (July 26) and for 85 deaths in the Nice massacre (July 14), was published the final report of the independent commission of inquiry sought by the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Segolene Royal, after the emission Volkswagen scandal, the so-called Dieselgate. Tests carried out by the commission of inquiry on 86 car models from different manufacturers diesel houses, after 10 months of studies, they had found no illegal changes in engines and anti-pollution devices.
In the official statement, the minister Royal, so a bit ‘cryptic, argued that “it was not tried the use of illegal devices, but this does not exclude the possibility” that such illegal devices there are, demanding further investigation. The Report Royal as it was published has ended up in oblivion for nearly a month. Until yesterday. When three of the 17 members of the independent commission told the Financial Times that the document all test details were not deliberately published the 86 models, such as the one that concerns the Renault Captur. Details that were purposely omitted because the French government as well as being the controller of emissions is also the largest shareholder of the Renault-Nissan group with a 19.7 percent stake.
In several models would be encountered levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions – the gas produced by the combustion of the engines, which causes severe respiratory disease that can lead to premature death – from 9 to 11 times higher than for European limits.
The French investigators have found a discrepancy between the data of the emissions produced during the stationary test car, with those products actually during road use. This discrepancy, according to them, would be produced by devices that restrict emissions of the cars when the control system is activated. In suv Capture Renault, for example, argue the three members of the investigation committee, there is a NOx abatement mechanism called Trap, or trap, which decreases during the stationary test five times in quick succession emission levels , which does not happen during road travel.
Further investigation would be needed, say the three members of the Committee who requested anonymity, to determine if performance of these engines are justified and in accordance with the law, or of course not.
last January, during the first months of work of the commission had already been encountered high levels of emissions in another Renault model, the Talisman sedan. After a few weeks the French company had ordered the forced recall of 15 thousand cars lamenting a defect in the software.
Renault denies having ever used the software to pass emissions tests and maintains that “all models comply with the standards and applicable laws in every market in which they are sold.” Renault is not the only manufacturer not to have passed the tests carried out by the French Commission but would be in good company: “The Fiat 500X – writes Ft – recorded an emission level of NOx exceeding 17 times the European limits.” The Report Royal – document of 53 pages you can read in full on the Sun site 24 Ore.com – there are all the results of tests on various Renault, Fiat, Ford, Opel, Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, Skoda, Honda, Mitsubishi, Alfa Romeo, Seat, Mazda, Kia, Hyundai.
The EU is now asking the French Government to know in detail the methodology used and the test data. “Like other national surveys that have already been given, we ask the French government full access all’informazioni, methodology and data before they can draw our own conclusions,” he said yesterday a spokesman for the European Commission. ” Brussels has already called on Britain and Germany to know the details of the respective governmental inquiries on emissions of Volkswagen scandal.
As you recall, in June Volkswagen has bargained agreement a record 15.3 billion dollars with the US EPA Environmental Authority that ignited the scandal Dieselgate and American consumers. Bosch, manufacturer of the offending unit, which produces technology and control units for most of the world’s automakers, has not adhered-of-court agreement and will face the civil trial in the United States. governmental inquiries on Dieselgate are opened in dozens of countries.
For Renault yesterday was a difficult day. The Paris Stock Exchange the title has come to lose more than 3% to fold closing 0.7 percent.
© All rights reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment