When a car is recalled because of an emissions issue, you immediately think of the diesel scandal that Volkswagen triggered seven years ago. But in this current case, the official mold is just whinnying: Opel has to bring the Corsa into the workshop, including the electric version – because you can’t carry out an exhaust gas test on the test bench.
It’s not as if e-cars don’t produce any exhaust fumes. But one thing is certain: They have neither an exhaust nor do they emit local pollutants (apart from fine dust). As is well known, the “exhaust” is somewhere else. Nevertheless, according to the law, every car, no matter what the principle of the engine that drives it, must be able to measure the exhaust gas that the car emits directly. Evidence must be provided that the emission regulations are complied with. Even if that’s absurd for an electric car. “According to the legal requirements, the authorities must be able to carry out a roller test bench measurement at any time for this model,” explained an Opel spokesman. A total of 16,605 Corsa models of all drive variants, built between 2019 and 2022, are affected. A software update for the ECU will be applied. This all sounds too incredible to be true and maybe just a misinterpretation? Here is the wording from the recall database of the Federal Motor Transport Authority: “Prescribed test bench measurements cannot be carried out due to a software error. This applies, among other things, to various tests on the roller dynamometer and expressly includes electric vehicles. “Exhaust for electric cars? From this point of view, electric cars should actually also have an exhaust pipe on which the exhaust gas can be measured. But the authorities haven’t figured that out yet. Pst, don’t tell anyone! Incidentally, this is the second Corsa recall within a few weeks; there was a software problem back in October. The reason: a “missing warning to the driver in the event of a defect in the direction indicators”.
source site-13