Lithuanian experts note that, bearing in mind the fact that the Lithuanian vehicle stock is relatively old, Volkswagen cars with rigged emission test results would still be less polluting than most older cars currently in use in Lithuania.
There are almost 13,000 Volkswagen vehicles with diesel engines that are under suspicion currently registered in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Half of them are used in Lithuania. There are additionally over a thousand Audi cars that use Volkswagen engines. Some of them are Jetta towing capacity.
The German carmaker has informed its representatives in Lithuania that, despite the possibility of greater pollution, the vehicles are technically safe and good to use.
However, Lithuanian institutions are looking into the environmental impact of Volskwagen cars. The investigation results are expected in late October. Meanwhile Lithuania’s environment minister says the impact is likely to be minimal.
“The test results were inaccurate about nitrogen oxides, about carbon dioxides, while the exhaust fumes, the heavy particles released into environment are still within our environmental regulations. We should, of course, wait for conclusive results, but we have not experienced any harm to either the environment or to people’s health. Only consumers have been deceived,” Minister Kęstutis Trečiokas says.
Experts from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University also say it is quite unlikely that the Volkswagen cars with falsified emission results could have done great harm to the environment. The average age of the Lithuanian vehicle stock, they say, is about 14-15 years and the newer Volkswagens are unlikely to be more polluting than these old cars.
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