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These details of emissions modes and engine control software configuration could easily explain the defeat. What remains is explaining how engineering managers
by oxryly1 11y ago
These details of emissions modes and engine control software configuration could easily explain the defeat.
What remains is explaining how engineering managers higher up (all the way to the top) could remain willfully ignorant of the fact that VW's diesel engines "passed" emissions without resorting to exotic tech like Mercedes' bluetec exhaust fluids. They knew there was some sort of magic in their engines that set them apart, but they either understood it was cheating, or they never asked any questions.
- dboreham 11y agoI suspect this will turn out to be due to some corporate mass psychosis similar to when an airliner suffers controlled flight into terrain because nobody wanted to disagree with the captain.
- gherkin0 11y ago> What remains is explaining how engineering managers higher up (all the way to the top) could remain willfully ignorant of the fact > What remains is explaining how engineering managers higher up (all the way to the top) could remain willfully ignorant of the fact that VW's diesel engines "passed" emissions without resorting to exotic tech like Mercedes' bluetec exhaust fluids. How often do high level managers at a big company have a good handle on technical implementation details of specific systems and what the implications of those details actually are? It's possible that these people either had non-technical backgrounds, technical backgrounds in unrelated areas, or out of date technical backgrounds (like they last worked with this stuff back when cars still commonly had carburetors).
- oxryly1 11y agoMartin Winterkorn (the VW CEO who resigned) was an engineer. Specifically, he was an powerplant engineer who helped spearhead VW's diesel technology. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to jail.