
Volkswagen Test Rigging Follows a Long Auto Industry Pattern - tysone
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/business/international/volkswagen-test-rigging-follows-a-long-auto-industry-pattern.html
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SlipperySlope
Very similar to the way Intel, years ago, rigged its Pentium CPU to excel on
certain industry benchmarks.

[http://www.classactionrebates.com/settlements/intel-
pentium-...](http://www.classactionrebates.com/settlements/intel-pentium-4/)

~~~
nerdy
Yep, or GPU benchmark cheats back in the early 2000s

~~~
gravitronic
except for, you know, the environmental damage.

~~~
ChuckMcM
There was an interesting follow up on this which pointed out three things, one
GM killed people with their ignition switch cover-up and the CEO didn't
resign, the "fix" is a software patch to leave the engine controller in
'minimize emissions' mode all the time, and in spite of this 'cheat' emissions
overall have come down 76% in the last 10 years.

So was it more damaging that a small percentage of cars were cheating on their
emissions? Yes. But how much more damaging? Not much, especially since diesel
cars are a very small fraction of VW's sales in the US.

Overall it is better that this group of cars were cheating as opposed to say
Toyota's gasoline powered cars. The overall effect was so small it was not
detected by the EPA's and CARB monitoring efforts on air quality which they
model against the assumption that people are complying with the regulations.

~~~
at-fates-hands
>> Overall it is better that this group of cars were cheating as opposed to
say Toyota's gasoline powered cars

I'm assuming this is due to the fact diesels run cleaner than gas powered
cars? This is what I've been told my whole life, so it seems this part of the
scandal has been forgotten or overshadowed by the bad deeds of rigging their
cars?

~~~
douche
There are a hell of a lot more gasoline-powered Toyotas out there than diesel
VWs.

At least in the U.S., diesels are generally dirtier. That might be because our
diesel has mostly been high-sulphur, not the cleaner diesel that Europe has.
Most diesel engines are built for heavy equipment, tractor-trailers, or pickup
trucks in the U.S.

~~~
selimthegrim
Ultra low sulfur diesel has been the law in the US for highway vehicles since
2007

------
grandalf
Is the software actually designed to "dupe" regulators?

Might there be many legitimate reasons why the emissions vs performance
tradeoff might be tailored to driving conditions? Of course when the car is
idling it would make sense to minimize emissions as much as possible, just as
an idle CPU can utilize a lowered clock speed.

~~~
downandout
Apparently in the VW case, this was their specific intent. Also, limits are
limits. You can't have the software allow violations of emissions limits
because the driver wants to go faster at a particular point.

That isn't to say that the CEO is at fault, nor would it be expected that the
CEO of an enormous company with thousands of engineers would know about or
direct specific engineering decisions (and in fact he denies that he knew).
More likely than not, he issued unrealistic directives to the engineering
team, who met the demands in the only way they could at the time. That doesn't
make it right by any stretch, but that appears to be what happened.

~~~
grandalf
> You can't have the software allow violations of emissions limits because the
> driver wants to go faster at a particular point.

It depends on how the emissions are measured. They could be measured per RPM,
per mile, per gallon, per pound transported, or by any of those over time, or
some basket of utilization patterns modeled after real-world use.

If you slam the accelerator to the floor, the vehicle produces more emissions
than if you'd continued along at a steady pace. Emissions control is a
combination of active and passive systems, along with careful moderation of
inputs to the engine. So it seems plausible that a complex, computer-
controlled vehicle would optimize emissions vs performance by modifying many
of the available variables in response to driving conditions.

~~~
downandout
_> It depends on how the emissions are measured._

That is certainly a good point. However in this case, the specifics of what
they were doing obviously crossed the line. Normally I roll my eyes when I
hear about EPA issues, given that agency's penchant for making mountains out
of molehills and ravenous appetite for horrendous fines. But in this case,
many rational, scientifically credible people all seem to agree that they were
intentionally and egregiously violating the law.

~~~
grandalf
> scientifically credible people all seem to agree that they were
> intentionally doing this.

That does seem to be the case. I'm curious when the dust settles if the spirit
or the letter (or neither, both) of the EPA requirement was violated.

~~~
tzs
You can read more detail in the letter from the EPA to VW:
[http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/cert/documents/vw-nov-
caa-09-18-15....](http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/cert/documents/vw-nov-
caa-09-18-15.pdf)

Here is the explanation for what VW is accused of doing.

\--- begin quote ---

Specifically, VW manufactured and installed software in the electronic control
module (ECM) of these vehicles that sensed when the vehicle was being tested
for compliance with EPA emission standards. For ease of reference, the EPA is
called this the "switch". The "switch" senses whether the vehicle is being
tested or not based on various inputs including the position of the steering
wheel, vehicle speed, the duration of the engine's operation, and barometric
pressure. These inputs precisely track the parameters of the federal test
procedure used for emission testing for EPA certification purposes. During EPA
emission testing, the vehicles' ECM ran software which produced compliant
emission results under an ECM calibration that VW referred to as the "dyno
calibration" (referring to the equipment used in emissions tested, called a
dynamometer). At all other times during normal vehicle operation, the "switch"
was activated and the vehicle ECM software ran a separate "road calibration"
which reduced the effectiveness of the emission control system (specifically
the selective catalytic reduction or the lean NOx trap). As a result,
emissions of NOx increased by a factor of 10 to 40 times above the EPA
complian levels, depending on the type of drive cycles (e.g., city, highway).

\--- end quote ---

And here is what happened when this was found out and the EPA and CARB tried
to find out what was happening:

\--- begin quote ---

VW continued to assert to CARB and the EPA that the increased emissions from
these vehicles could be attributed to various technical issues and unexpected
in-use conditions. VW issued a voluntary recall in December 2014 to address
the issue. CARB, in coordination with the EPA, conducted follow up testing of
those vehicles both in the laboratory and during normal road operation to
confirm the efficacy of the recall. When the teting showed only a limited
benefit to the recall, CARB broadened the testing to pinpoint the exact
technical nature of the vehicles' poor performance, and to investigate why the
vehicles' onboard diagnostic system was not detecting the increase emissions.
None of the potential technical issues suggested by VW explained the higher
test results consistently confirmed during CARB's testing. It became clear
that CARB and the EPA would not approve certificates of conformity for VW's
2016 model year diesel vehicles until VW could adequately explain the
anomalous emissions and ensure the agencies that the 2016 model year vehicles
would not have similar issues. Only then did VW admit it had designed and
installed a defeat device in these vehicles in the form of a sophisticated
software algorithm that detected when a vehicle was undergoing emissions
testing.

\--- end quote ---

~~~
grandalf
thanks for posting this! Indeed it seems like VW had no choice but to admit to
what it did.

Is there any information about how this happened organizationally within VW?
Was there widespread awareness?

------
Theodores
This VW scandal has done everyone a big favour. There is a chance that air
pollution by all cars - petrol and diesel - will be taken that bit more
seriously in the future.

Anyone with the remotest interest in automobiles knows that petrol engine cat-
converters do not work when cold, i.e. for the first fifteen minutes or so.
Therefore all of those school runs and all of those trips to the local
supermarket to pick up a few things are pollution nightmares for people with
asthma. Nobody thinks this through to that conclusion, even though it is not
rocket science.

The real evil with diesel is the ultra small particles that are too fine for
one's lungs to cough up. This has not been addressed, again, it is just the
way it is and someone else's problem - maybe that asthma sufferer.

This don't care attitude has history, our parents were quite happy to drive
around pumping lead into the faces of children just because everyone did it.
Maybe there can be a turning point here with car driving becoming the new
smoking, with drivers made pariahs too.

As much as VW are a remarkable company in many ways with many highly desirable
products, I do hope that the lawsuits keep on coming - total bankruptcy would
be just desserts. I also hope for contagion with pretty much every other car
maker also given a severe grilling.

As a product the car really is enemy number one as far as the environment is
concerned. There is the noise, the danger, the wars for oil as well as the air
pollution. Imagine how much our urban centres would be improved if every road
had those rows and rows of tin boxes removed.

On a recent trip to the countryside I opened a local paper. Page after page
concerned road accidents. It seemed that was all there was to report. We have
got to move on from these horrible little tin boxes and the filth they spew as
our lives depend on it.

~~~
ams6110
I would wager than statistically, internal combustion engines have saved far
more lives than they've cost.

~~~
revscat
Perhaps historically, but shift your gaze forward and the opposite is likely
to be true. Climate change will likely lead to the end of many millions of
lives (billions?). Not to mention, of course, all the death and disease that
has been caused as a result of the various pollutants produced by ICEs.

------
greendesk
I looked for the "European Federation for Transport and Environment," which is
cited to be the agency that alerted of the differences between laboratory and
real world testing. I'd add the link from their website too:

[http://www.transportenvironment.org/publications/vw%E2%80%99...](http://www.transportenvironment.org/publications/vw%E2%80%99s-cheating-
just-tip-iceberg)

The reason is their expectation that (quote): "The evidence suggests he will
not be the last head of a carmaker offering apologies in the next few months
as other manufacturers will be found making use of “defeat devices” for
tricking laboratory tests."

------
njharman
This.

People at work are saying this is the end of VW. The fines are so big, they
will never be able to pay them. My answer is "Lawyers". VW's lawyers will
argue and deal until fines, civil penalties are slaps on the wrist and written
off to reduce next year's taxes.

We really need corporate "death" penalty. And if by some miracle, regulators
grow balls and ability to beat corporate lawyers. All the executives will ride
home on golden parachutes. Company will be restructured. Business will
continue as normal. Only people paying for this crime will be 11million owners
of fucked up cars, thousands of "little people" workers and the Environment.

~~~
iSnow
>We really need corporate "death" penalty.

Well, IDK. Those who order criminal behavior are the ones higher up who have a
lot of connections and will find a new job. The average worker will pay the
price by being long-term unemployed.

If you want the regulators and their lawyers to grow fangs, they should go
after the executives and jail them. And strengthen whistleblower laws.

------
tefo-mohapi
Can we then rely on electric car manufacturers as they rely heavily on
software? Something to ponder about as we also discuss it in this podcast
[http://www.africantechroundup.com/volkswagen-up-in-smoke-
as-...](http://www.africantechroundup.com/volkswagen-up-in-smoke-as-the-south-
african-government-is-set-to-investigate/)

------
bluepostitnote
I do wonder what the "fix" will be for these cars. The test drive is a
quintessential part of the purchasing decision in my experience, and
potentially the fix will significantly alter the drive feel.

------
oxryly1
Time for Consumer Reports to do emissions testing.

