Remember back in October when I listed the 11 other manufacturers who were about to become affected by the diesel emissions cheating scandal? In addition to the ADAC tests, further third-party testing has now shown that the Renault Espace emits 25 times the legal NOx limit for diesel engines. The study was done by the University of Applied Sciences in Bern, Switzerland, and the International Council on Clear Transportation. The latter is the same council that commissioned the investigation into VW.
Renault aren't the only manufacturers of minivans who are now involved in the growing scandal. The Opel Zafira was also tested and found to have similarly high levels of NOx emissions.
Renault responded to the Espace allegations as follows: The test procedures used by the University of Bern are not all compliant with European regulations. The report shows important variations in test findings which are not conclusive and require 'additional measurements'.
In other words, the tests weren't done to the same artificially stupid requirements that the governing bodies require. These include loopholes such as allowing the manufacturers to optimize the engines to run at artificially low temperatures, strip out standard equipment to reduce the vehicle's weight, tape up door joints, and fit bald tires with lower rolling resistance. Also, the DUH tests were done with actual people driving actual vehicles on actual roads instead of a bastardised vehicle hooked up to a computer in sanitary lab conditions.
