Synopsis as I've heard it (no idea on accuracy or truth): VW engines couldn't meet EPA emissions requirements or it was too costly to meet them. Rather than actually meet them, they massaged the car's onboard computer system/software to tell the EPA that it was, in fact, meeting emission standards even if it wasn't.I'm sorry, I've only [strike]seen[/strike] ignored the headlines. What happened? I figured it was just eco-fearmongering.
Volkswagen officials admitted to officials in the United States that diesel cars sold there were programmed to sense when emissions were being tested and to turn on equipment that reduced them. At other times, the cars had better fuel economy and performance, but produced as much as 40 times the allowed amount of nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that can contribute to respiratory problems including asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.
Clean diesel ain't clean....I'm sorry, I've only [strike]seen[/strike] ignored the headlines. What happened? I figured it was just eco-fearmongering.
T.Lex said:Ahhh - so the programmers figured out how to future-hack the testing. Respect.
The software was designed to show reduced emissions triggered by lack of steering wheel movement during the emissions test. In actual driving conditions (wheel turning) the software switched to normal mode and emissions sky rocketed.
I suspect there was a meeting with the Project Lead, Engineering Lead, and at least 1 lawyer.When I first heard this my first reaction was one of mixed admiration for VW engineers to pull this off in software. My guess is they had fun with this challenge - I would, but there's no way I'd forgo my ethics to be involved in that project.
I suspect there was a meeting with the Project Lead, Engineering Lead, and at least 1 lawyer.
Lawyer (paraphrasing): Neat idea, Scotty (because of course, that's the engineer's nickname). We can justify it by saying it simply detects when the car is idling, so we can use maximum environmental devices at that time. Performance isn't an issue during idling. It is actually a feature.
(The feature thing came from the lawyer's hypothetical time, early in his career, with Microsoft.)
JettaKnight said:How does that code get into the ECU without someone blowing the whistle? There's got to be enough people with access to that software that someone not involved would have seen it and understood it. Plus, there's got to be at least some talk around the watercooler about this. Someone had to have some scruples. If I saw that sort of shenanigans going on at my company I'd be pissed. Here am I trying to do a good and honest job and there's this specter of a ****storm waiting to burst open when regulators find out about my company's maleficence. Walking out the door with a thumbstick in my pocket would be one thought in my mind.
You're not wrong. It's hard to want to maintain those ethics after getting ****** over by these emissions tests, but I still ultimately agree with you.
I'd like to believe that these guys were standing up to tyranny, but I'm guessing that they were under instructions from above and it had to do with profit margins, not freedom.