This may be the end of diesel engines. Second Dieselgate threatens – PRAVDA.sk

An attorney of the Court of Justice of the EU considers other software of diesel engines of the Volkswagen Group to be illegal. At the same time, it should be the current ones. It could be the last nail in a diesel coffin.

As if it weren’t enough for automakers to move away from diesel engines – today’s most efficient internal combustion engines – under political pressure and the hysteria caused by the Dieselgate case. In the future, cars refueling with diesel may be even more difficult. If ever. The Volkswagen Group is facing further allegations of illegal manipulation of NOx emissions in its engines. We are not talking about the previous ones, but the current ones. One of the advisers to the EU Supreme Court defended the complaints of Austrian Volkswagen owners, who objected to the operation of software in their cars.

This software modifies the operation of the anti-emission system and includes a so-called “temperature window”. What is it about? The flue gas treatment system limits its operation or the operation of the exhaust gas recirculation if the outside temperature is lower than minus 15 degrees Celsius and also if the temperature rises above 33 degrees Celsius. The volume of recirculated exhaust is also lower if the vehicle is located at an altitude of 1,000 meters. This means that under these specific conditions, diesel engines produce more NOx than permissible.

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According to Volkswagen, the temperature window is to protect the motor from damage. However, this is certainly not to the liking of the Austrian owners of the cars in question, who want to seek compensation in the action, nor of Athanasios Rantos, Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). He warned last year that he considers such software to be illegal even if it contributes to the prevention of engine wear. In addition, they claim that the “temperature window” does not reflect driving conditions in Austria and Germany, as such temperatures are common here and vehicles also normally drive at 1 000 meters above sea level.

Athanasios Rantos also argues that the “temperature window” is not protected by the engine itself, but by the EGR valve, its cooling or the particulate filter, ie the accessories, so the explanation by Volkswagen does not stand. We will see how the case develops. If the court were to agree with the opinion of the CJEU lawyer, this could mean a new phase in the Dieselgate affair. This time, however, Volkswagen would probably no longer consider just renovating it, but would react by completely stopping the production of diesel cars. After all, since 2015, the oil scandal has cost him more than 30 billion euros. He can no longer afford further losses in connection with them.

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