
VW Tries to Blame Engine Emissions Fraud on LowLevel “Engineers and Technicians” - jacquesm
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/09/vw-tries-blame-engine-emissions-fraud-low-level-engineers-and-technicians
======
jacquesm
There's a lesson in here somewhere.

If you're an engineer and your boss gives you an order that will cause the
company to engage in unlawful behavior you should probably (1) refuse the
order, (2) find another job as soon as you can and (3) _if_ you feel the
situation is serious enough that the cost to your career is outweighed by the
benefits to society consider to become a whistle-blower.

On another note, that independent research was the trigger that caused this
whole scandal to blow up is a very bad mark on the ledger of the EPA who
should have caught this right out of the gate and not 1M+ vehicles later.

Interesting statements by VW indicate that some believe there is no way their
cars would have passed inspection without cheating. With one diesel engine not
being that technologically different from the next how are the independently
verified figures of the various other brands working out.

As of last Thursday I no longer have a VW diesel since a bunch of crooks
decided to steal my camper. I'd very much like it back, emission problems or
not.

If anybody spots a silver grey long wheel base VW T5 with dark windows and a
camper roof that opens at the rear then I'd very much like to know about it
and I'll make sure there is a generous reward. Dutch registration 16-GGG-6,
picture is here:

[http://camarades.com/DSC_5237.JPG](http://camarades.com/DSC_5237.JPG)

Very mad about this :(

~~~
Menge
> With one diesel engine not being that technologically different from the
> next how are the independently verified figures of the various other brands
> working out.

A few months back I heard that VW was pushing for new legislation further
lowering diesel emissions to start to remove all its competition from markets.
Back then it was rumored that VW had invested in and patented a slightly
different direction that worked. Really, you just have to pretend to have
succeeded and then cheat to create a monopoly.

Thanks to IP law, there was little incentive for their competition to
investigate a system they couldn't use or wager on developing alternative
designs given how impossible the claimed results were.

I think VW should be on the hook to meet their current claims while their
competitors should not be.

~~~
jacquesm
> I think VW should be on the hook to meet their current claims while their
> competitors should not be.

That would be a very nice form of justice. And for an encore, make them
deliver on their promised mileage across the whole line-up.

~~~
hwstar
They'd just file for bankruptcy unless you prohibited that as well. Actually,
bankruptcy is still an option for VW if things get too far out of control.

------
onion2k
At this point the entire engineering staff at VW should be looking for new
jobs. Any executive who is willing throw their lower level staff under a bus
rather than accept the fault lies in their management failure for not catching
this (or their active participation if they actually sanctioned it) is not
someone you want to work for.

~~~
hwstar
Yes examples are about to be made of them unless they act soon. The real
question is whether they can all find new jobs before they are "fired for
cause" and can't collect unemployment.

------
_0ffh
It's already proven that those who implemented the circumvention acted on
orders from managers.

Link (Ger) [http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/vw-skandal-nicht-
nur-k...](http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/vw-skandal-nicht-nur-
kriminelle-entwickler-13837007.html)

Translation (Goog)
[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev...](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.faz.net%2Faktuell%2Fwirtschaft%2Fvw-
skandal-nicht-nur-kriminelle-entwickler-13837007.html&edit-text=)

------
crb002
The only plausible explanation of a non-criminal nature is that day to day
engineers having to hunch over the exhaust of a running VW to debug quirky CAM
bus stuff did it as debug mode code and it shipped with the feature toggle on.

~~~
waqf
Here's another semi-plausible explanation: they used machine learning to
optimize engine parameters to fit the objective "maximize engine performance"
subject to the condition "pass the emissions test".

If the optimization is able to access parameters such as steering wheel
position, altitude, whatever, then this would overfit to the test in the
manner described. (The fix is to optimize for "have good emissions" instead of
"pass the test". Or depending on your point of view, maybe the fix is just to
add another optimization constraint "comply with the law" … if you can figure
out exactly what is compliant.)

~~~
JoeAltmaier
That is probably what happened since a corporation is a blind organism for
optimizing things, absent a moral compass. Just change 'they' to 'corporate
management', and 'machine learning' to 'the engineering staff'.

------
bootload
_" The unlawful behaviour of engineers and technicians involved in engine
development shocked Volkswagen"_

Trace the source all the way to the top. There is no way in an engineering
culture like VW this was an isolated _rouge operation_.

~~~
_0ffh
Yup, there's probably also some primer, foundation, concealer, lipstick end
eye-liner involved! :)

~~~
jacquesm
And a very generous application of whitewash and stain remover.

