British officials announced that all 37 diesel models tested on the road found to exceed the laboratory limits, but only VW had used a “defeat device” in its vehicles.
UK’s Transport Ministry tested models from over 20 brands, including BMW, Ford, Nissan, Jaguar, Opel/Vauxhall and Volvo.
Of the 37 models tested, 18 of them were Euro-5 compliant vehicles and the rest were newer Euro-6 ones.
“It can be seen that all of the results are substantially higher than this limit, with the best results being about three times higher, and the worst about 10 times higher,” it said, referring to the Euro-5 vehicles tested.
Robert Goodwill, UK’s Transport Minister pointed out that car makers had not done anything illegal as their only had to meet the laboratory Euro standards set by the EU, according to a report from Reuters. Real-world emission tests will be enforced from 2017.
The Opel/Vauxhall Insignia recorded the highest NOx levels from the Euro-5 models, with a result of nearly 1900 mg/km, 10 times over the official limit. Peugeot’s 3008 scored the highest emissions among the Euro-6 models, emitting almost 14 times over the limit.
The Transport Ministry also said that only VW has been found to be using defeat device software to cheat the tests.
“Vehicles tested in the UK programme showed no evidence of car manufacturers, apart from VW Group, fitting devices to defeat the approved emissions test programme.”
The UK government said that they have spent £1 million ($1.4 million) to retest these 37 models. The British Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders added that meeting real-world testing standards is expensive for all car makers but all models scheduled for next year will be compliant with the new rules.
“This will require significant additional investment by manufacturers but will add greater transparency so consumers can be more confident industry is delivering on air quality”, a spokesman said.
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