95 Per Cent Of Diesel Cars Puff Out Too Much NOx

When news of the VW emissions scandal broke, there was always that feeling that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Recently we’ve had the police raids at Renault’s factories, German car regulator Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) investigating 23 manufacturers for potential infringements, and this week Vauxhall has been dragged into proceedings amid allegations of emissions rigging during services of certain examples of the Zafira.

The latest development comes from extensive emissions testing from consumer magazine Which?. The publication looked into all its data obtained from cars it has lab tested (using more realistic measures than the EU test) since 2012 and found that a whopping 95 per cent of diesel cars tested breached EU limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. It also found that one in 10 petrol cars were guilty of a NOx limit breach, with two thirds breaching carbon monoxide limits.

So why are all these cars so damned dirty? Much of it is down to the EU test. As we explained shortly after the whole VW Dieselgate thing blew up, the test is hilariously unrealistic, so it’s no surprise that out in the real world cars emit far more nasty bits out of their exhaust pipes than they’re supposed to, and it’s also no surprise that it’s usually impossible to hit the claimed economy figures.

The solution? Tougher tests, but these aren’t due to come in until September 2017. By then, who knows how this ongoing scandal might have developed…