▁to ▁the ▁Los ▁Angeles ▁Times , ▁Ex ponent ' s ▁research ▁has ▁been ▁critic ized ▁as ▁being ▁re lied ▁upon ▁by ▁companies ▁in ▁need ▁of ▁public ▁defense , ▁although ▁the ▁firm ▁has ▁def ended ▁its ▁im partial ity ▁towards ▁clients ▁r anging ▁from ▁fir ms ▁to ▁the ▁U . S . ▁government . ▁A ▁University ▁of ▁California ▁card i ologist ▁was ▁quoted ▁saying , ▁" I ▁would ▁have ▁picked ▁a ▁firm ▁with ▁more ▁of ▁a ▁reputation ▁of ▁neutral ity " ▁cit ing ▁as ▁an ▁example ▁their ▁determ ination ▁that ▁second hand ▁smoke ▁isn ' t ▁car cin ogen ic . ▁ ▁Toy ota ▁subsequently ▁asked ▁Stan ford ▁University ' s ▁Center ▁for ▁Autom ot ive ▁Research , ▁a ▁facility ▁partly ▁fund ed ▁by ▁multiple ▁autom akers ▁including ▁Toy ota , ▁to ▁also ▁evaluate ▁the ▁electron ics ▁claims . ▁The ▁center ' s ▁J . ▁Christian ▁G erd es ▁Ph D , ▁professor ▁of ▁mechanical ▁engineering , ▁rejected ▁several ▁electron ics ▁claims ▁as ▁imp laus ible , ▁and ▁said ▁that ▁his ▁find ings ▁were ▁independent ▁and ▁that ▁he ▁received ▁no ▁compens ation ▁from ▁Toy ota ▁for ▁his ▁evaluation . ▁ ▁On ▁Feb . ▁ 8 , ▁ 2 0 1 0 ▁the ▁N HT SA ▁and ▁NASA ▁concluded ▁the ▁electron ics ▁were ▁not ▁to ▁bl ame ▁after ▁review ing ▁the ▁electron ics ▁and ▁elect romagnet ic ▁inter ference . ▁ ▁The ▁finding ▁was ▁based ▁on ▁studying ▁over ▁ 2 8 0 , 0 0 0 ▁lines ▁of ▁software ▁coding ▁on ▁nine ▁vehicles ▁involved ▁in