Department for Transport illegally withheld ‘defeat device’ data

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Fri, 05 Jan 2024

The Department for Transport unlawfully withheld information it received from car manufacturers on how so-called ‘defeat devices’ operate, the Information Commissioner’s Office has ruled.

It is now obliged to either provide the information or appeal the decision – a call it is required to make this week.

The ruling follows a request from environmental lobby group ClientEarth for the information back in 2022. When it failed to receive the information, it complained to the ICO.

The Department for Transport received information from car manufacturers including Volkswagen Group, Mazda and Stellantis in response to potential illegal practices. This included which conditions would affect the performance of emission controls in certain vehicles.

In refusing to provide this to ClientEarth, it argued the information was commercially sensitive and could harm the intellectual property rights of car brands.

ClientEarth argued the DfT was obliged to provide the information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 – and the ICO has now agreed with this argument.

"Excessive emissions caused by illegal defeat devices mean people are continuing to breathe toxic air – avoidably," says ClientEarth lawyer Katie Nield.

Nield also says evidence suggests there are millions of highly-polluting vehicles still on our roads that are likely to contain illegal defeat devices, yet manufacturers and regulators have made it near-impossible to get hold of information which shows exactly how the technology is used in some models.

"This decision is a critical step towards more transparent and effective regulation for a sector with a scandal-ridden past."

Defeat devices were brought to light by the 2015 dieselgate scandal. They affect the operation of emission control systems, with the ability to switch them off or reduce their effectiveness under certain conditions.

Their presence means vehicles could be more polluting on the road than they are in the lab.

Ask HJ

Will my petrol car become non ULEZ compliant in the future?

At present my 2016 petrol Kia Venga is ULEZ friendly, will there come a time when it would become ULEZ unfriendly? Just checking I was not too sure if when vehicles get to a certain age they fall into the charging zone.

At present the emissions standards required for petrol cars within the ULEZ is Euro 4, which came into effect for most cars in 2006. ULEZ compliance is based on NOx emissions rather than vehicle age, so a vehicle will not become non-compliant because of its age. However, the Euro 7 emissions standard comes into effect in July 2025, so it is reasonable to expect that at some point in the future the ULEZ standard for both petrol and diesel cars will be raised above the current levels, but it is difficult to anticipate when this might be. As your Kia was built in 2016 it is likely to be Euro 6 compliant, so even if the standards are raised for petrol cars it is unlikely it will be increased to the point where you car is non-compliant in the near future.

Answered by David Ross

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