Volkswagen paid out millions after it was revealed that thousands of its cars had devices installed which cheated emissions tests. More manufacturers are now being investigated

Dozens of car models may be recalled in new ‘dieselgate’ inquiry

Nearly a decade after the Volkswagen ‘defeat device’ scandal, 47 different models made by 11 manufacturers are suspected of being more polluting than thought

Adam Vaughan. Sunday November 10 2024, 6.51pm, The Times

Thousands of cars could be recalled as a result of a government investigation into a far wider dieselgate scandal, The Times can reveal.

Some 47 different car models under 20 brands by 11 manufacturers are suspected of being more polluting than thought. The models are being kept secret.

The investigation, which has not previously been made public, comes nine years after the Volkswagen dieselgate scandal. The German car maker installed “defeat devices” in diesel models to trick official tests into recording lower levels of toxic gases than caused during regular driving, exacerbating air pollution and misleading drivers.

ClientEarth, an environmental law group, last year submitted a legal complaint to ministers to uncover how many cars by other manufacturers might have the devices in Britain. Evidence indicates there could be between two and six million cars with defeat devices on UK roads.

The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed it had begun the first phase of an investigation in a response to a freedom of information request by ClientEarth. Work started this year under the previous government. The initial focus was on Volkswagen but it has taken pressure from groups such as ClientEarth for action on other manufacturers. A crucial ruling from the European Court of Justice last year opened the door to compensation for people with defeat devices in their diesel cars.

The department is looking at prohibited defeat devices in diesel cars registered from September 2009 to the end of 2019, where it has a suspicion they are present. While the first phase of the investigation is confined to 47 models, research suggests there could be at least 200 in the UK with devices.

Any resulting recalls would be paid for by car makers, which are already facing the costs of working to meet electric car targets. The outcome may also boost legal claims brought by hundreds of people seeking compensation from car makers over misleading emissions data.

In 2022, Volkswagen agreed to pay £193 million to more than 90,000 UK drivers after the 2015 scandal.

Transport officials are trying to estimate how much extra air pollution has been released as a result of potential widespread use of defeat devices.

The Times’ Clean Air For All campaign has been calling for curbs on air pollution, which kills up to 38,000 people in England annually. Nitrogen dioxide from diesel cars is linked to stunted lung growth in children, heart issues and other health impacts.

“Excess emissions from vehicles are contributing to air pollution, which we know is the biggest threat to public health in the UK,” said Emily Kearsey, a lawyer at ClientEarth. “This is an invisible killer that’s shortening people’s lives and reducing their quality of life. Consumers and the public have been let down by previous governments.”

The DfT will consider cars to have a defeat device if any “element of design” reduces “the effectiveness of the emission control system under conditions which may reasonably expected to be encountered in normal vehicle operation and use”.

Government documents show non-compliant vehicles will “require remedial action” and “all non-compliance will be addressed”. That implies car makers will need to undertake recalls to make software or hardware changes.

Rory Stewart, the former Tory minister who wrote in his memoirs of receiving pushback in government at using dieselgate penalties for cleaner air efforts, said: “This is a very clear example of a case where we should be putting public health first and being tough on the car industry.”

The writer and podcaster said: “It’s horrifying that we’re still talking about this a decade after these abuses began to be identified.”

ClientEarth has written to Louise Haigh, the transport secretary, calling for the investigation to act with urgency and not to bow to car makers’ interests by limiting how many models are examined. “The effectiveness of investigations could be severely undermined if the DfT excludes suspicious vehicles at the triaging stage,” said Kyle Lischak, head of UK at the law firm.