'Impossible-to-cheat' emissions tests show almost all new diesels still dirty

Other new research shows diesel vehicles cause 88% of the £6bn annual damage to people’s health from car and van exhaust in the UK

Emissions tests that are impossible for carmakers to cheat show that almost all diesel car models launched in Europe since the “dieselgate” scandal remain highly polluting.

The test uses a beam of light to analyse the exhaust plume of a car as it passes and automatic number plate recognition to link the measurement to a specific model. More than 370,000 such measurements taken in the UK, France and other countries have been compiled into new rating system called The Real Urban Emissions Initiative (True) and made available to the public on Wednesday. read more »

Autonomous vehicles: Ready or not, here they come

A recent AAA survey found that nearly three-quarters of Americans would be afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle. That's assuming states are actually ready to handle an influx of driverless vehicles, which will require everything from upgrading millions of miles of road paint lines for the vehicles' computer vision gear to follow to the establishing the legal liability implications of driverless vehicles that navigate public roads.

Autonomous vehicles are an inevitability and a number of states are rushing to take the lead in what will one day be a very profitable industry. But with self-driving vehicles, getting it right is more important than getting there first. read more »

Volkswagen admits it can't cope with new emissions tests

Germany's Volkswagen has warned its main factory in Wolfsburg faces temporary shutdowns later this year, owing to new emissions test standards.

It plans "closure days" to prevent a build-up of vehicles that have yet to be approved for sale.

From September, more rigorous EU standards apply, designed to replicate real driving conditions more closely. read more »