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ONLY IN THE U.S.: While lawyers are litigating against
VW, Audi and now Dodge Ram, naysayers to climate change in North America have started ‘coal rolling.
PHOTO: Dailcaller.com
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IT is not just VW and Audi that are being sued for lying to buyers
about the levels of toxic gases emitted by their cars in normal use.
Seattle law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro has now filed a class
action lawsuit against several American brands for alleged emissions cheating …
and Mercedes may be next in their sights.
The lawyers, who were involved with the Volkswagen 2.0-litre diesel
settlement, last week sued Cummins and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) on behalf
of 500 000 big bakkie owners in America.
They are seeking reimbursement and damages to the tune of $3 000
(R42 636) to $5 000, depending on the vehicle.
In its court papers, the company wrote Cummins and Chrysler had
conspired to conceal illegally high levels of emissions in Dodge Ram 2500 and
3500 diesel pickup trucks manufactured between 2007 and 2012.
They explain how the two companies saw a golden business
opportunity in 2001 to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
stringent emissions standards for heavy-duty highway diesel engines, slated to
take effect in 2010. The lawyers’ courts papers quote how Cummins had announced
the new truck as the “strongest, cleanest, quietest best-in-class 2007 Cummins
turbo Diesel. Leapfrogging the competition, the Cummins 6,7 litre turbo Diesel
engine”, which is used exclusively in Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 heavy duty pickup
trucks to achieve what Cummins said was “the world’s lowest 2010 Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) NOx standard” a full three years ahead of the
requirements.
“In order to produce a diesel engine that has desirable torque and
power characteristics, good fuel economy, and emissions levels low enough to
meet the stringent European and United States governmental emission standards,
FCA and Cummins (collectively, the defendants) developed the 6,7 litre diesel
engine with a sophisticated NOx adsorber. The primary emission control
after-treatment technologies include a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and a NOx
adsorber catalyst system.
“The DPF traps and removes particulate [soot] emissions, while the
NOx adsorber system facilitates the capture and reduction of NOx into less
harmful substances, such as nitrogen and oxygen.
“In contrast to Cummins’s promises, real-world testing has revealed
that the Dodge 2500 and 3500, equipped with the Cummins 6.7 litre turbo diesel
engine, emit dangerous levels of NOx at many times higher than their gasoline
counterparts; what a reasonable consumer would expect from the cleanest engine
in its class; United States Environmental Protection Agency maximum standards;
and the levels set for the vehicles to obtain a certificate of compliance that
allows them to be sold in the United States,” the lawyers stated.
Thus Cummins’s “cleanest engine in its class” is far from clean,
they added.
The lawyers said FCA and Cummins had “vigorously marketed the
Adsorber Engine, and the Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 with the Adsorber Engine, as
the strongest, cleanest, quietest diesel engine in its class”.
In 2011, Cummins also stated that the “product has been in
commercial use for over four years, delighting customers with its performance
and durability, and delivering on Cummins [sic] commitment to a cleaner,
healthier environment”.
FCA’s advertising claimed the “cleaner diesels saved owners time,
expense, and hassles, and that both the 6,7 litre Cummins Turbo Diesel in Ram
Heavy Duty pick-ups met all 50-state emissions standards with no need for a
diesel exhaust fluid system.
“These representations are deceptive and false. The affected
vehicles routinely exceed applicable Federal and California emissions limits.
“The legal limit of NOx emissions for stop-and-go driving is 200
mg/mile. When tested, Dodge Ram 2500s emitted 702 mg/mile, and 2 826 mg/mile at
maximum emission. The California NOx limit for highway conditions is 400
mg/mile. Testing for the 2500 shows an average of 756 and max of 2,252 mg/mile,”
thundered the lawyers.
When done with GM, the Seattle-based smoke-chasers look set to aim
for the Mercedes-Benz, a relatively small player in America. For as they said,
“the green bubble with respect to diesel vehicles has truly popped on September
18, 2015, when the EPA issued a Notice of Violation of the Clean Air Act against
Volkswagen”.
