Longlegpete

I'm a little late on this thread but i can see this being a huge hole in the head for VW for years and years, i can't see this being a simple swop of ECU and job done.

Someone said earlier things have moved on with regards to emissions so it should be a easy fix, i would suspect this is not the case, yes things have moved on but to make an engine run more efficient with the same performance will be very difficult and won't be just a swop of electronic monitoring equipment, also as i think as has been said it will surely be down to governments and customers to take VW to the cleaners for effectively dogging taxes, miss selling and effectively fraud

I could be wrong but i think this is VWs Deepwater Horizon moment, no directly linked deaths but will cost €10s of billions in the end

This has been going on for years legally, i remember we used to "iron out" the flat spots created in the very old noise and emission test on our motorcycles, there would be a flat spot created around 3000rpm and again around 5000rpm, these were there for drive bye noise tests etc and would make the engine run rough but would keep noise and emissions under control, the differance to this over the VW case is they were sold like it not modified afterwards

mikelincs

Skoda now are involved..

cricketman

Of course they are, Skoda, VW, Seat and Audio all have the same engines

And I can guarentee that if VW were cheating then the rest of the car industry has been too. VW are just the first to get caught

In 10 years time we are going to see a lot more electric cars out there, and many fewer Diesel ones. And in 20 years time I suspect the majority will be electric with Diesel/petrol just used for specialist vehicles

Dick Dasterdly

Well I for one will certainly not be buying shares in VW at the moment.
When the full extent of the liability becomes more clear I can imagine them dropping much further than they already have.

I expect Law companies and solicitors Worldwide are already rubbing their hands with glee and putting in orders for their new yachts.

The fact that VW has already to a large degree accepted responsibility and liability will make their job so much easier and more of a pleasure, as they figure out the variety of angles of this sad affair which they can use to their best advantage to fill their boots.

jimenato

Probably, and depending upon how we we are going to generate our electricity this will just shift the emissions problem further back down the chain.

cricketman

That´s why we need our governments to implement integrated energy solutions

Spain and Germany have a very good proportion of energy made from renewable sources. UK and US not so much, but the US is a big growth market

The economy influences everything though. Spain was putting up wind farms at an incredible rate from 2000-2010, but all renewable energy work has stopped since the money ran out

jimenato

Agreed but Germany has now stopped using nuclear (ETA. will by 2022). It will be interesting to see how they propose to generate enough electricity not only for a growing domestic and industrial need but also to power millions of electric vehicles on top of that.

Dick Dasterdly

I think if other car companies had been doing likewise we'd have known about it by now.

Other car companies have been using exactly the same technology, but when the cars are actually in use and therefore to clean up emissions, rather than make them worse.

Dick Dasterdly

Progress with electric cars is and always has been comparatively slow mainly as a result of limited battery capabilities.

There have been many claims with regard to improved batteries, but in reality they are still not a practical proposition for motorists who can only afford or rely on one car, so I wouldn't expect a massive surge in demand for them in the near future.

Hybrids have the increased purchase or production costs to contend with, so likewise I don't see them becoming the norm anytime soon.

cricketman

The new Porsche electric concept car has a range of 500km and can charge to 90% capacity in 20 minutes

Even the Tesla S has a 500km range and can change to 90% in an hour. And this is a car you can currently buy! Although upwards of 100,000 euros

Battery technology is nearly there for high end cars. Then we will need critical mass to bring the costs down - and the charging station infrastructure

Longlegpete

As i understand it they were the only one's found fiddling the test in the US which originally brought this to light so you could be right

Fredbargate

I believe Germany has stopped generating by nuclear, instead they buy it from France.

amideislas

The original assumption was that cheap gas from Russia would be abundant, and that would take up the slack. Unfortunately, that can't be assured, so the French will be selling a lot of nuclear electricity to Germany.

At least the greens are happy now. Fukushima proved that you should never build a nuke plant atop a continental fault line. And what's better than good old fossil fuels anyway?

Dick Dasterdly

17 Mind-Blowing Pics Of Car Purgatories Where Thousands Of Unsold Vehicles Sit Idle - Odometer.com

Unsold cars, mind boggling.

Dick Dasterdly

Volkswagen emissions scandal: Spanish government may claim damages from Volkswagen | In English | EL PAÍS