“Diesel cars: Software updates not enough for clean air”

German environment minister Barbara Hendricks says the software updates for diesel cars exceeding emission limits agreed on at the national “diesel summit” in early August can only be “a first step” and need to be followed by technical retrofitting of the engines. In a joint press release by the environment ministry (BMUB) and Germany’s environment agency UBA, Hendricks said the car industry’s “refusal to initiate retrofitting is inacceptable”, adding that the associated costs “of course have to be paid by the carmakers.” UBA president Maria Krautzberger said the software updates did not substantially improve air quality “because the vehicles’ point of departure is much too bad.” The UBA estimates software updates could reduce the car fleet’s NO_x emissions by 3 to 7 percent, depending on how many car owners made use of them, which was not enough to meet the annual average of 40 micrograms per cubic metre prescribed by EU rules.

Find the press release in German here.

See a CLEW article on the Diesel Summit’s results and a CLEW timeline of the dieselgate affair for background.