Opinion: Is German car company Daimler poisoning our air?
Daimler
While Daimler has been accused in the US for cheating on emission tests, it is contributing to a government-funded project in Germany that aims to cut down on air pollution.
There seems to be no relief for German car makers. After Volkswagen, it’s time for Mercedes-maker Daimler to face the wrath of US authorities for cheating to pass diesel emissions tests.
In 2015, Volkswagen was found to be fitting millions of diesel engines worldwide with software to distort emission data. And now German carmaker Daimler has been accused of conducting a similar illegal practice in the US.
Mercedes-maker Daimler has been accused of equipping cars with software to pass diesel emissions tests in the US. Results of internal testing revealed that some of the Mercedes models emit ten times the country's nitrogen oxide limit.
It is important to understand that a huge amount of nitrogen oxides in the air is poisonous. It can contribute to acid rain, can lead to suffocating smog, and can cause breathing problems and headaches in humans.
It has been reported that Daimler used software devices in cars to regulate the amount of a special fluid known as ad blue, which is used in the engines to neutralise harmful nitrogen oxides.
It comes around three years after Volkswagen admitted to installing secret software on 580,000 US vehicles that allowed them to emit up to 40 times the legal limit.
U.S. Investigators are reported to have found a couple of software functions that helped Daimler cars pass emissions tests. For instance, the “bit 15” software switched off the car’s emission control system after 26 kilometres of driving.
Slipguard, on the other hand, allowed the emissions cleaning system to recognise whether the car was being tested based on speed or acceleration patterns.
A Daimler spokesman declines to comment on the content of the documents that have been quoted in the media. He says the company is fully cooperating with the US authorities and has agreed upon strict confidentiality with the Department of Justice.
A Daimler spokesperson says: “the documents available to Bild have obviously selectively been released in order to harm Daimler and its 290,000 employees,” says a Daimler spokesperson.
U.S. Investigators are probing Mercedes-maker Daimler. Investigations could lead to significant penalties and recalls.
It’s yet to be seen how the US authorities respond to the entire case, but here is an interesting thing to note. It’s ironic to see that while Daimler has been accused in the US for cheating on emission tests, it is contributing to a government-funded project in Germany that aims to cut down on air pollution.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)