The KBA is two-thirds of the way through retesting the NOx emissions of some of Germany's best-selling cars and has already contacted some OEMs to discuss the findings.
IHS Automotive perspective | |
Significance | The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) is in talks manufacturers over "partly elevated levels of nitrogen oxides" after testing. |
Implications | In the aftermath of the VW emissions affair, the KBA has decided to conduct independent tests of NOx levels in 50 models from 23 manufacturers, and has found discrepancies between some stated levels and real-world emissions. |
Outlook | It remains to be seen what steps the KBA takes next, but France has always opted to conduct its own testing of NOx emissions and other national governments will follow suit. Further confirmation of significant discrepancies between previously stated NOx emissions results and real world results are likely to put pressure on the regulatory authorities to take action and tighten the rules. |
The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) says it is in dialogue with a number of OEMs over discrepancies between previously stated nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and those found after a new round of testing, which involved an element of testing in real-world conditions. The KBA opted to carry out a fresh round of testing in the wake of the news that Volkswagen's (VW) EA189 diesel engine was fitted with a defeat device that allowed the engine to emit less NOx while undergoing testing. The KBA has been carrying out the tests to see if there are discrepancies between previously stated and tested emissions levels, especially in reference to NOx.
In a press statement, the KBA said it was undertaking tests on 50 different models from domestic and foreign OEMs, including those from the VW Group stable. The organisation chose its test subjects partly through sales registration data to ensure the most popular new model types in terms of registration data were tested and partly through what it referred to "third party" information alleging overly high emissions from some vehicles. The testing is ongoing; two-thirds of the tests planned by the KBA have been carried out with testing being undertaken both on the chassis dynamometer under lab conditions as well as portable emission measurement systems (PEMS) on the street in real -orld driving scenarios. The statement said, "Based on raw data partly increased nitric oxide levels in different driving and environmental conditions have been identified so far. In discussions with concerned manufacturers and approval authorities, this data is being further evaluated."
Outlook and implications
A Bloomberg report claims that the 50 models being tested are from 23 different brands, so we are looking at a large sample size of the best-selling models in Germany. It has one of the largest domestic automotive industries in the world, with a correspondingly significant political lobbying power. It also has one of the most active and powerful environmental political lobbies, and if there are significant discrepancies between initially stated test results and this new round of testing for NOx emissions, there will be implications for the OEMs. In its statement, the KBA said it was still evaluating the data in order to ensure that it was legally robust. Bloomberg asked a spokesperson to comment on which cars had shown higher NOx emissions but unsurprisingly there was no information forthcoming at this stage. The authority did not provide a time frame for publishing the final results or say what the next course of action may be, but the discussions taking place with OEMs may cover the next steps. BMW and Daimler have already stated that they did not manipulate emissions tests, and the former stated to Bloomberg that it is not one of the OEMs in discussions with the KBA over the results posted by its models. The French government has already stated it is undertaking a similarly wide-ranging review (see France: 30 September 2015: French government to test emissions on 100 cars of all makes – report) and has already discussed the preliminary results of its own investigation into VW (see France: 9 November 2015: French government minister reveals initial VW diesel test results).