DIESELGATE A DECADE ON

DID VOLKSWAGEN'S EMISSIONS SCANDAL KILL DIESEL?

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There can be little doubt that Dieselgate has had a profound effect on the global car industry, but did the controversy accelerate the death of diesel?

SEISMIC shifts are well under way in the automotive industry as consumers make the switch from legacy manufacturers to unknown startups and from internal-combustion to fully electric powertrains.

All of this can be attributed to the ongoing push towards cleaner air and sustainability, but it could also have been accelerated by what is still one of the biggest scandals in car history.

The Volkswagen emissions scandal, also known more commonly as 'Dieselgate', might not have changed our overall trajectory in terms of electrification, but it almost certainly helped dig the grave for the usage of fossil fuels – particularly diesel – in passenger vehicles.

Yet to fully understand Dieselgate's impact on not only the automotive industry, but also the buyers of its products, we have to go back to the beginning to see what the issue stems from and why senior people within VW at the time set out to deceive regulators – and the public.

WHAT IS DIESELGATE?

DIESELGATE stems from a period between 2008 and 2015 during which Volkswagen was intentionally fitting its cars with technology to dupe emissions tests.

Nick Molden, the founder and CEO of Emissions Analytics, tells Auto Express: “Diesels in their natural state produce carcinogens and respiratory pollutants that are really bad for human health, but they can be completely controlled if you utilise the right technology.”

As part of the Euro 5 emissions standard that was introduced in 2009 and became mandatory in 2011, diesel vehicles were required to emit no more than 0.18g/km of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and come equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF). As part of Euro 6, first brought in in 2014 and made mandatory the following year, NOx levels had to be as low as 0.06g/km.