
Volkswagon’s Campaign for ‘Clean Diesel’ - fmihaila
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/world/europe/volkswagen-diesel-emissions-monkeys.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
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heisenbergs
This is just the same theme that any big lobbying industry will use. Tobacco,
oil, Pharma, agriculture, Auto, you name it. They all do the same. Sponsor
some research that either questions or contradicts anything negative to the
industry, while hopefully producing some industry specific positive studies. A
friend of mine is doing his PhD on this. This isn’t small business or trivial
/ niche research. This tactic runs and controls all top US universities (MIT,
Stanford, Harvard), or at least the critical departments he looked in-depth
at.

Ironically “controversial” researchers will also get disproportionate media
coverage, as media tries to find pro and against statements. Thankfully the
worst researchers have started being branded as evil. A lot more to be done
though...

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TheSpiceIsLife
What is the point of subjecting macaque monkeys to diesel exhaust fumes?

Don't we already know that diesel fumes are harmful, wouldn't it be enough to
measure the concentration various compounds / particles?

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tomohawk
The EPA also conducted unethical studies on diesel exhaust.

[https://www.scribd.com/document/215909101/EPA-Human-Study-
Su...](https://www.scribd.com/document/215909101/EPA-Human-Study-Subjects)

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drdrey
Might want to change that to Volkswagen

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fmihaila
Yeah, I submitted it with the original title (used the bookmarklet). It
doesn’t let me edit it now.

How does one summon the moderators to correct the title?

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Shengbo
I'd grab a stick of chalk and some goat's blood.

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monksy
You're better off bringing up gender and tech politics to get that.

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jamisteven
paywall

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Theodores
Thank goodness for those people that worked to uncover the diesel scandal,
also thank goodness for the efforts of Tesla in changing the automobile
market. These old auto manufacturers have the option to sell people nice new
electric cars instead of taking the 'tobacco/lead-in-petrol' route.

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madengr
The Tesla Roadster went on sale in 2008, so I'll give them that. Though the
Nissan Leaf went on sale in 2011, prior to the Model S, and was/is still 1/2
the price. I credit Nissan with producing something for the 99%.

I always thought the VW (diesel) Rabbit pickups were neat. A 50 MPG truck back
in the late 70s. I was considering a modern VW diesel wagon, until the
scandal. I love my EV though, so no more diesel. Clean diesels have too much
emissions crap on them to be reliable.

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Robotbeat
I just wish Nissan wasn't so stingy with the battery. A nice 200+ mile battery
with truly fast-charging would be truly awesome.

Nissan already uses Chademo, which is partially compatible with the
Supercharger in Teslas, so they should be able to partner with Tesla and
access the Supercharger network.

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greglindahl
You might be interested in the Chevy Bolt and the Tesla Model 3; the 2019 Leaf
is going to have a bigger battery.

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Robotbeat
Yes, the Bolt is good and the Model 3 is ideal.

And good to hear that the 2019 Leaf will (according to leaked info) have an
option for 200+mi range and 100kW fast charging. Now, if only they get access
to the Supercharger network, this will be a very interesting vehicle as it'll
be the first one truly competitive with the Model 3 (the 50kW of the Bolt
isn't fast enough, and it uses a different charging standard which is not at
all compatible with the extensive Supercharger network).

...but I'm worried that the base 2019 Leaf still has a sub-200 mile battery
and only 50kW charging. That makes it a pain to do long-distance travel.
(Still fantastic for a second car, though, as is the older Leaf.)

