Bild: German Carmakers to Recall 630,000 for Emissions

A handful of German automakers, including Volkswagen AG and its Audi and Porsche division, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz unit and General Motors Co.’s Opel will recall 630,000 cars to fix diesel models’ emissions systems’ temperature setups, Bild newspaper reported, citing an unidentified German government representative.

The recall is meant to fix a device designed to turn off emissions controls at certain temperatures, Bild said.

Volkswagen AG CEO Matthias Mueller in happier times, as the head of Porsche back in 2014.

Sean Gallup, Getty Images

Transport minister Alexander Dobrindt is scheduled to reveal the findings of regulatory tests of cars’ diesel engines later Friday. Ministry spokeswoman Svenja Friedrich declined to comment when asked about the nature of Dobrindt’s planned announcement.

The German probe across a broad range of manufacturers and models was prompted by Volkswagen’s revelations in September that it had installed software on diesel motors designed to cheat on official emissions test. The German investigation showed no other models with illegal software, Bild reported.

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Daimler is among carmakers that have acknowledged the existence of a component that turns off controls at low temperatures, saying it’s legal and designed to protect the engine. Joerg Howe, a spokesman for the carmaker, declined to comment on any recall. Nico Schmidt, a spokesman for Opel, also declined to comment.

“The question is whether this number is just the start, or if there’ll be more,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “What’s clear is that there are legal tricks the whole industry is using. That might be legal, but it’s not a legitimate thing to do, and shines a negative light on the industry as a whole. This isn’t a good sign.”

Daimler is among carmakers that have acknowledged the existence of a component that turns off controls at low temperatures, saying it’s legal and designed to protect the engine. Joerg Howe, a spokesman for the carmaker, declined to comment on any recall. Nico Schmidt, a spokesman for Opel, also declined to comment.

“The question is whether this number is just the start, or if there’ll be more,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “What’s clear is that there are legal tricks the whole industry is using. That might be legal, but it’s not a legitimate thing to do, and shines a negative light on the industry as a whole. This isn’t a good sign.”

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Recent summers in Europe were likely the warmest in the last 2,000 years

New research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters by 45 scientists from 13 countries has determined that recent strong, summer warming over most of Europe during the past several decades was likely the warmest such period of the last two millennia.
Temperature anomalies of a western European heat wave from last summer.

Temperature anomalies of a western European heat wave from last summer

The research team used tree-ring data and historical documentary evidence to derive a new European summer temperature reconstruction, according to the EurekAlert article.

For example, the study abstract notes that the 1st century (100 year period) European temperatures may have been slightly warmer than the 20th century, but the difference is not statistically significant.

However, recent summers have been unusually warm in the context of the last two millennia and there are no 30 year periods in either reconstruction that exceed the mean average European summer temperature of the last three decades (1986-2015).

Source by:http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/climatechange/recent-summers-in-europe-were/55130935