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Volkswagen may be repairing vehicles recalled due to the Dieselgate scandal, but they may not be repairing them to the standards expected of Australia. The Dieselgate scandal erupted in 2015 when it was discovered that some Volkswagen diesel vehicles had been fitted with software and hardware designed to cheat emissions testing. While being tested, the software and hardware would scrub noxious nitrogen oxide from the air, but on the road, the vehicles would emit more than the limit allowed by environmental laws allow. Eco Watch reports that while VW vehicles emitted less nitrogen oxide than before the recall, they were still above legal limits in Australia.
AAA tested the vehicles and discovered that the vehicles were using 14% more diesel fuel than before the recall but still emitting noxious emissions that were 400% higher than when in a laboratory setting.
These results indicate that it would be more prudent to conduct the tests in a real-world driving setting than in a laboratory.
Volkswagen has already paid out more than $31 billion due to the scandal.
In an article regarding the 2015 Dieselgate scandal, Scientific American explained that nitrogen oxide emitted from diesel vehicles combines with oxygen in the air and forms nitrogen dioxide. This can worsen respiratory illnesses like asthma, bronchitis, and other illnesses. It can also produce acid rain.
Volkswagen has rejected the findings of AAA and said that their vehicles continue to meet the clean air standards put into effect by Australian and European emissions standards.
It should be noted, however, that according to a study published this year in Biological Psychiatry that the levels of air pollution that have been deemed “safe” by the European Union can impair fetal brain development.
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