India needs stringent checks for cleaner air
By Anu Prabhakar
INDIAN WHO CAUGHTVOLKSWAGEN CHEATING SPEAKS...
Chennai-bornArvind Thiruvengadam was part of a team at West Virginia University that ultimately blew the lid on the ‘Volkswagen emission scandal’. Excerpts from an interview:
ICCT had issued a public request for proposal to test 3 European manufactured passenger diesel cars in real-world driving conditions in the US. We took up this opportunity to respond to the RFP since it was a one of a kind study. Since, WVU promised a lot of data for the small project budget, ICCT awarded the project to WVU.
Both you and Daniel Carder were a part of the testing sessions, which first showed the discrepancies. What were some of the earliest discrepancies that alarmed you?
Actually, Daniel Carder, handled the logistics of the project. The project was executed by myself and my Swiss colleague Marc Besch. Marc and I conducted the extensive real-world driving test in State of California between February and March of 2013.
When we first observed high emissions, based on our experience we always expect deviation in results between realworld and laboratory testing. But the deviations we were measuring were significantly higher in magnitude than what we normally expect. 15-30 times higher on an average is very high… As smartengineers , we have to critique ourselves and double check our results before we can conclude anything.
Moreover our aim was not to catch a manufacturer cheating, so we were not expecting to see this deviation. We were making sure the vehicle was operating correctly. At the end of the test we could only conclude that there is extreme deviation between lab tests and on-road tests, for which we do not have any explanation.
Reports have suggested that you more than triple checked your data. Were those stressful days?
Analyzing data is never stressful. It becomes stressful when the data quality is bad. But we knew our data was very good. But crunching the data is a time consuming process and hence it took just under a year from the point tests were conducted to submit the report. We presented the data in conferences and people were getting curious. So we actually enjoyed the data analysis part as we were uncovering some interesting trends. Based on our extensive experience on how these cars work, the data was not supporting our understanding... It was invoking our curiosity more.
Can you please explain to us how the engine software that Volkswagen installed in their cars works?
Modern cars are controlled almost completely electronically through a central control computer. The software is designed to keep the vehicle to meet emissions in the lab and on suitable driving conditions. In this case, the manufacturer had programmed the software to control the vehicle to perform extremely well during an emissions certification test and be very conservative on emissions reduction strategy on the road. The engine software will derive signals from various factors, for example: still steering wheel, ABS disabled, traction control etc to decide the vehicle is in an emissions certification lab and on a roller and not on the road. These signals will trigger the engine computer to change the strategy to low emissions mode to pass the test.
Were you and your team persuaded to withhold results?
No... It was a routine emissions test for us. The results were made public. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought our results would escalate to what we are seeing today.
Reports have suggested that the cars are all over the world, with a majority being in Europe. But should India be worried?
Indian emissions regulations are slightly behind compared to US or Europe. I don’t believe the Indian VW cars were affected. But on a separate note, the air quality problem in India is a serious crisis. The uncontrolled emission from vehicles is one of the primary reasons for bad air quality and increased health risks to population. Stringent emission regulations in the US are designed to preserve the health of the population. Similarly, India should consider stricter regulations to enforce advanced technologies in vehicles that would enable them to operate cleaner. This scandal should be an example to design the future emissions regulation in India to subject manufacturer to strict emissions control. Rigorous monitoring of vehicle emissions during real-world conditions should be a high priority from Indian regulators. Lack of strict regulation enables manufacturers to sell older technology vehicles in India compared to rest of the world.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born inChennai , graduated with bachelor of Engineering degree from University of Madras (Hindustan College of Engineering) in 2004. Came to the US for MS in Mech engineering at WVU. Continued my PHD in WVU and joined as a Research Assistant Professor in 2013.
Since, my visits to India are at long intervals, every time I come, I am alarmed with the level of increase in both vehicle population and pollution. As an engineering scientist who researches on developing cleaner engines and technology, I often work with various regulatory agencies here to evaluate various strategies. I always think if I will ever be involved in the same extent to drive regulations that will result in near-zero emissions automotive technology in India. I believe with our population density, the exposure levels to automotive pollution is far higher than in the US, as result the health impact to general population could be even more severe. These are key factors that have to be considered to proactively push for stricter regulations. India should define a regulation based on unique emissions problem facing the country and not simply adopt standards from other regions of the globe. Vehicle tests should be representative of Indian driving conditions and vehicle should be evaluated according to those standards that will alleviate automotive pollution problems in India.
Only regulation can drive the inception of advanced technology that will make vehicles cleaner.
INDIAN WHO CAUGHT
Chennai-born
In early 2014, the International Council on Clean Transportation started to look into what has been described as “discrepancies in the emissions of several Volkswagen diesel vehicles in early 2014”. Could you please recall how did the project land on West Virginia University’s Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines, and Emissions’s lap?
ICCT had issued a public request for proposal to test 3 European manufactured passenger diesel cars in real-world driving conditions in the US. We took up this opportunity to respond to the RFP since it was a one of a kind study. Since, WVU promised a lot of data for the small project budget, ICCT awarded the project to WVU.
Both you and Daniel Carder were a part of the testing sessions, which first showed the discrepancies. What were some of the earliest discrepancies that alarmed you?
Actually, Daniel Carder, handled the logistics of the project. The project was executed by myself and my Swiss colleague Marc Besch. Marc and I conducted the extensive real-world driving test in State of California between February and March of 2013.
When we first observed high emissions, based on our experience we always expect deviation in results between realworld and laboratory testing. But the deviations we were measuring were significantly higher in magnitude than what we normally expect. 15-30 times higher on an average is very high… As smart
Moreover our aim was not to catch a manufacturer cheating, so we were not expecting to see this deviation. We were making sure the vehicle was operating correctly. At the end of the test we could only conclude that there is extreme deviation between lab tests and on-road tests, for which we do not have any explanation.
Reports have suggested that you more than triple checked your data. Were those stressful days?
Analyzing data is never stressful. It becomes stressful when the data quality is bad. But we knew our data was very good. But crunching the data is a time consuming process and hence it took just under a year from the point tests were conducted to submit the report. We presented the data in conferences and people were getting curious. So we actually enjoyed the data analysis part as we were uncovering some interesting trends. Based on our extensive experience on how these cars work, the data was not supporting our understanding... It was invoking our curiosity more.
Can you please explain to us how the engine software that Volkswagen installed in their cars works?
Modern cars are controlled almost completely electronically through a central control computer. The software is designed to keep the vehicle to meet emissions in the lab and on suitable driving conditions. In this case, the manufacturer had programmed the software to control the vehicle to perform extremely well during an emissions certification test and be very conservative on emissions reduction strategy on the road. The engine software will derive signals from various factors, for example: still steering wheel, ABS disabled, traction control etc to decide the vehicle is in an emissions certification lab and on a roller and not on the road. These signals will trigger the engine computer to change the strategy to low emissions mode to pass the test.
Were you and your team persuaded to withhold results?
No... It was a routine emissions test for us. The results were made public. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought our results would escalate to what we are seeing today.
Reports have suggested that the cars are all over the world, with a majority being in Europe. But should India be worried?
Indian emissions regulations are slightly behind compared to US or Europe. I don’t believe the Indian VW cars were affected. But on a separate note, the air quality problem in India is a serious crisis. The uncontrolled emission from vehicles is one of the primary reasons for bad air quality and increased health risks to population. Stringent emission regulations in the US are designed to preserve the health of the population. Similarly, India should consider stricter regulations to enforce advanced technologies in vehicles that would enable them to operate cleaner. This scandal should be an example to design the future emissions regulation in India to subject manufacturer to strict emissions control. Rigorous monitoring of vehicle emissions during real-world conditions should be a high priority from Indian regulators. Lack of strict regulation enables manufacturers to sell older technology vehicles in India compared to rest of the world.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born in
Since, my visits to India are at long intervals, every time I come, I am alarmed with the level of increase in both vehicle population and pollution. As an engineering scientist who researches on developing cleaner engines and technology, I often work with various regulatory agencies here to evaluate various strategies. I always think if I will ever be involved in the same extent to drive regulations that will result in near-zero emissions automotive technology in India. I believe with our population density, the exposure levels to automotive pollution is far higher than in the US, as result the health impact to general population could be even more severe. These are key factors that have to be considered to proactively push for stricter regulations. India should define a regulation based on unique emissions problem facing the country and not simply adopt standards from other regions of the globe. Vehicle tests should be representative of Indian driving conditions and vehicle should be evaluated according to those standards that will alleviate automotive pollution problems in India.
Only regulation can drive the inception of advanced technology that will make vehicles cleaner.
