Dieselgate: millions of ‘extremely’ polluting cars still on Europe’s roads, says report

A VW Tiguan diesel model from 2015. This and four other best-selling car models still on roads in Europe had ‘extreme’ emissions, the ICCT said. Photograph: Simon Stuart Miller/The Guardian

Thirteen million diesel cars producing “extreme” levels of toxic air pollution are still on the roads in Europe and the UK, according to a report, seven years after the Dieselgate scandal first exploded.

The non-profit research group, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), revealed in 2015 that many diesel cars were highly polluting, emitting far more nitrogen oxides on the road than in official testing. The scandal led to a more rigorous test being introduced in the EU in 2019.