Chief Technology Officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Harald Wester, says EU legislation on light vehicles’ emissions and their certification is lacking in precision and should be based on the US system, and he told MEPs as much in the EMIS investigative committee into the Volkswagen scandal on Monday 17 October.
His statement did not only refer to the definition of defeat devices that MEPs regularly underscore along with some European commissioners (see EUROPE 11612), but also the European regulatory framework as a whole, particularly Regulation 715/2007 on motor vehicles vis-à-vis the Euro 5 and 6 standards, and Directive 2007/46 on the reception of motor vehicles. He said the European rules were well-designed, but the US rules are much more detailed and more precisely and rigorously applied. Wester was talking from experience because he spends half his time at Fiat Chrysler on the other side of the Atlantic.
He said the EU had to seriously tackle the lack of precision in its legislation, particularly with the introduction of new real driving emissions tests (RDE). Questioned by Hans-Olaf Henkel (ECR, Germany) about the need to move towards the US rules, Wester said he was convinced about this. He added that it was in any case necessary for the EU and US to harmonise their rules and regulations because adjusting to different markets was a serious financial and time cost for manufacturers.
Legal vagaries used as defence. The vague nature of definitions was used by the manufacturer in the written answers backing up its defence. In answer number two, it explains that unlike Volkswagen, it does not have a test detection system (see EUROPE 11396). It does not have a defeat device either that switches off the emission control system but rather a modulation system that kicks in after 22 minutes "in order to protect the engine". The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) tests currently in force last for 20 minutes. Fiat continued its defence by adding that the regulation does not give detailed definitions for engine protection measures in the event of damage or accidents, for the effectiveness of emissions control systems or the normal use of vehicles. These terms are laid down in Article 5 of the regulation for exempting some defeat devices.
Co-rapporteur Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE, the Netherlands) said Wester was giving a very limited interpretation of EU legislation when he says that Fiat did not use a defeat device. Gerbrandy told EUROPE that Article 3 of Regulation 715/2007 says that “‘defeat device’ means any element of design which senses temperature, vehicle speed, engine speed (RPM), transmission gear, manifold vacuum or any other parameter for the purpose of activating, modulating, delaying or deactivating the operation of any part of the emission control system, that reduces the effectiveness of the emission control system under conditions which may reasonably be expected to be encountered in normal vehicle operation and use.”
Fiat has been in the firing line since the German office for car safety (Kraftfahrt Bundesamt) accused the Italian car manufacturer of using fraudulent methods to reduce emissions (see EUROPE 11616). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)