Nineteen million diesel vehicles in Europe have “suspicious” levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, environmental non-governmental organization the International Council for Clean Transport (ICCT) warned on Wednesday.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has recently issued several rulings that found software installed on diesel cars to be illegal.

Discovered during Dieselgate in 2015, this “interference device” systematically improves the performance of the emissions control system during type approval procedures.

The NOx filtration system is reduced or shut down when the temperature is too low and above a certain altitude. Car manufacturers have always claimed that this is necessary to protect the engine.

According to the ICCT, of the 53 million diesel cars sold in the EU and UK between 2009 and 2019, 24 million vehicles produced (with 19 million still on the road) had “suspicious” emissions in relation to the CJEU rulings.

Sixteen million vehicles even have emissions levels described as “extreme” (three to four times the official limit).

These excessive emissions indicate the “probable use” of a prohibited engine calibration strategy.

19 million suspect cars in 200 models were sold by many manufacturers under the Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards.

The non-governmental organizations ClientEarth, France Nature Environnement (FNE) and Consommation Logement Cadre de Vie (CLCV) announced on Wednesday that they have approached the authorities in France, Germany and the UK to ask manufacturers to contribute to a fund to reduce road traffic pollution.

(photo: Dreamstime)