Diesel cars are producing much higher, health-damaging pollutants than what is claimed in laboratory tests, according to a government investigation which was commissioned following the Volkswagen scandal.
The six-month programme of testing involved 37 models tested in the UK.
A portable emissions testing device was used to compare laboratory results.
Not a single car among the 37 models tested in the UK met the latest standards for the EU lab limit in ‘real-world’ testing.
However, the DfT say that the study found no vehicles outside the VW group with systems to deliberately rig emissions figures.
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Robert Goodwill, the junior transport minister, said: “Unlike the Volkswagen situation, there have been no laws broken.
“This has been done within the rules.
“I am disappointed that the cars that we are driving on our roads are not as clean as we thought they might be.
“It’s up to manufacturers now to rise to the real-world tests and the tough standards we’re introducing.”
The government will next month present the findings to the European Research for Mobile Emission Sources, the body responsible for collating vehicle emission data.
