“But despite the current worldwide witch-hunt against diesel, Dr Thiruvengadam insists this fuel is still full of hope.. “We’re trying to pollution-map cities (including ones in India), to determine hotspots and to help authorities focus on these locations. they want to clamp down on such practices and work with us to make Wholesale Lithium battery components engines efficient. It’s a fragile system up there.. Something was not right with the test VW. It was a genius trick though. It lost a CEO (Martin Winterkorn), is facing billions in fines and as of September last year, will have to rejig close to 11 million vehicles, worldwide. “On the contrary, carmakers have been very co-operative and receptive.”

We didn’t have a plan to bring down a particular manufacturer either.How an Indian was part of a team of experts that helped uncover one of the world’s biggest motoring fraudsVolkswagen, the world’s largest automaker and manufacturer of some of the finest cars ever made, will not forget 2015.And their test was not even aimed to detect a problem. “It was strange. A Master’s degree and a PhD later, he became a research assistant professor at the West Virginia University’s Mechanical and Aerospace Department — and part of the CAFEE.. The devices — a programme placed with the engine control unit — would detect the moment the car was undergoing testing and would prompt the ECU to force cut emissions, allowing the car to pass the tests.But Dr Thiruvengadam and his colleagues are also on the path to some fantastic solutions. But we noticed the emissions were at least 20 times higher,” says Dr Thiruvengadam. We really hope such ideas will limit mankind’s impact on the Planet. Marc and I were travelling on the freeway in Los Angeles and the engine on the test vehicle was running on the perfect band. So, it’s not cheap to make a clean diesel engine.Months of investigation later, Dr Thiruvengadam, Besch and their team at the West Virginia Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions (CAFEE), released stunning research which later snowballed into what can only be described as the automotive equivalent of Watergate.. cruising.” Dr Thiruvengadam adds there has been no backlash from manufacturers, including VW, following the revelations.”Thirty-two-year-old Thiruvengadam hails from Chennai and following an engineering degree in 2004 from Madras University, he went to the US to study.

The countries in the West have clear roadmaps set at least twenty years into the future. For example, these ‘geo-response units’ in engines will tell cars to slow down and decrease emissions further if they sense they’re entering a highly polluted area. But you need to spend a lot of money to make them efficient — unlike petrol units.. This is what we call the sweet spot, when the engine’s supposed to be releasing the least amount of emissions. “Our intention was to test diesel engines in real world conditions. It’s high time India implemented such forward-thinking measures. Environmental changes take years and we need to plan for the decades ahead.”Because the most important thing we need to understand about the atmosphere is the fact that it will take years to bring about changes in critical parametres. VW is believed to have placed “defeat devices” in their diesel cars — with the sole purpose of fooling emissions testing. Our analysis was picked up by regulators (such as America’s Environmental Protection Agency) and that’s when the action started. And then we’re trying to construct technologies that’ll make cars more environmentally aware.. ”

Diesel technology has improved significantly. which we absolutely need to preserve.And all that because two engine and fuel experts — Dr Arvind Thiruvengadam and colleague Marc Besch — decided to go on a long drive only to come back, frowning. These engines are no longer smoky, dirty or rattly. About the ongoing odd-even experiment in New Delhi, those are tiny steps.