Lost in all the invective being cast toward Volkswagen for its emissions-test cheating is the sad fact that the company was able to get away with it for six years without getting caught. It kind of makes the EPA look like a paper tiger—or the automakers’ kitty cat. So, the agency has announced some measures to try and get its mojo back.
The EPA sent a letter to automakers informing them that in addition to running their vehicles through its test cycles, it “may test or require testing on any vehicle at a designated location using driving cycles and conditions that may reasonably be expected to be encountered in normal operation and use, for the purposes of investigating a potential defeat device.”
No more relying exclusively on dyno testing, in other words. Although the certification may take place on a dynamometer, the EPA will backstop that procedure with spot-checks conducted using a different type of testing—the specifics of which are not being shared with automakers. Also, in addition to manufacturer-supplied vehicles, it may borrow or rent regular-production models for testing.
“We’re upping our game,” said the director of the agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Christopher Grundler. Based on the revelations of the past week, that seems overdue.
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