Re: Why can't the EU...
"Err, no, the point is they didn't meet the standards as laid down by the EU in the first place. They actively changed the output when being measured so as to appear to meet the standard. Cheat. Fraud."
As I see it it seems that the requirement was to meet specific requirements in specific ways on specific testing equipment. Which the cunning bas**rds did. It seems the rules were met. The fact that the regulators were incompetent in defining and policing the "requirements" suggests that THEY should be VERY severely punished for that incompetence. I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.
VW's crime was to hype up the propaganda that their cars were so clean based on those fiddled results. ie CHEAT their customers.
THEY should be forced to modify the cars to:
(a) Meet the requirements in real conditions.
(b) Give AT LEAST the same performance as before.
(c) Give AT LEAST the same fuel performance as before.
(d) Do so in a manner which does not intrude in any way upon the space available to the owners in their vehicles.
(e) Do so in a manner which does not compromise in any way reliability or access to other components.
(f) Fully cover the cost of all additional service costs, including "consumables" and any increased vehicle downtime FOR THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE. At whatever garage the owner chooses to use.
(g) Provide a complete and reliable fix for all vehicles within six months of the "cheat" becoming known or pay swinging penalties.
(h) Provide the FULL source code for all software / firmware - both old and new - including all future updates - under an appropriate open source licence.
(i) Provide suitable funds in escrow to ensure the above will be accomplished.
(j) OR - at the owner's option - refund the FULL NEW COST of the faulty vehicle at current replacement prices to buy back the item, with NO obligation upon the owner to purchase another vehicle from their group.
That should put the shi*ts up the whole motor industry.
I gather these can be somewhat bad for the environment >>