Thousands of people will die early across Europe because of excessive air pollution from the Volkswagen cars that were fitted with illegal devices to cheat emissions tests, according to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The German manufacturer fitted “defeat devices” to more than 11 million diesel VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat cars built between 2007 and 2015, including 1.2 million sold in the UK. The devices ensured that pollution controls worked properly only in the laboratory, while on the road the cars emitted four times the legal limit of pollutants. The scientists studied the health impact of the 2.6 million affected cars sold in Germany and found that the extra toxic nitrogen oxides they had already emitted would cause 1,200 people to die
The Volkswagen emissions scandal is thought to result in thousands of people across Europe dying early due to air pollution from the cars that cheated emissions tests, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The carmaker fitted illegal devices to over 11 million diesel cars that were built between 2007 and 2015, which produced four times the legal limit of pollutants. Researchers found that a small number of VW vehicles had been equipped with software designed to cheat on emission tests by using an engine control unit (ECU) not approved for use in Europe.