Going on long drives was always something Arvind Thiruvengadam had loved. And, it was also a part of his work. But he didn’t know that his penchant for long drives was going to be instrumental in helping him unravel a secret that would bring down an automobile giant. Last week, Thiruvengadam, a researcher in a lab in West Virginia, and his colleague, discovered that Volkswagen had installed a device in its diesel-powered cars to fool emissions tests.
Interesting find
Thiruvengadam, who hails from Chennai, pursued a degree in engineering from Madras University. After graduation, in 2004, he went to the US to study at West Virginia University, where he did his masters, PhD and later, became a research assistant professor in the university’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. He was also a part of the core group of the Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions (CAFEE).
While Thiruvengadam admitted that the lab was not one of the best on campus, he was excited when they won a grant in 2012, to test diesel cars. He said, “Our happiness was that we were going to be the first guys to test diesel cars on the road.” He added that once they started getting data, they were happy thinking that they would get opportunities to author many journal papers, and that was the happiest they had felt, at that point. But the best was yet to come.
His research made progress when, along with colleague Marc Besch, he went on a 2,400-mile trip between Los Angeles and Seattle in the first week of March, two years ago, to test a rented Volkswagen Passat. What surprised the duo was that, during the journey, the mono-nitrogen oxide emission level of the test vehicle was five to 20 times higher than the European standards.
The researchers found the same with the Volkswagen model, Jetta, as well. It displayed 15 to 35 times higher emissions than Environment Protection Agency (EPA) standards.
Double-and-triple checking the results proved that they were different from the EPA standard emission levels that these cars had showed during lab tests. The outcome — Volkswagen had been taking its customers for a ride, literally, and the gig was finally up.
Thiruvengadam says that though he and his colleague Marc had done real-world driving studies, and it had been a lot of fun travelling to many places, the icing on the cake was when this study won them fame and had by far, been their most exciting one.
