Af ter VW, now Dyson says Germans cheated in vacuum tests too
IN the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, German firms were keen to show they had cleaned up their act.
But British inventor James Dyson yesterday claimed to have found more dirt under the carpet.
His company has accused German rivals Siemens and Bosch of using trickery to make two of their appliances appear greener in lab tests than they really are.
The models have the highest EU energy efficiency rating of ‘A’ – but Dyson claims their consumption is closer to banned levels.
During European Commission energy consumption tests, vacuum cleaners are not required to suck up any dust. Dyson claims the cleaners only appear green because they have a sensor that detects when dust is being collected and increases power.
However, it says the machines work at a lower power setting when there is no dust, so they are certified in tests as having the most efficient energy rating.
It says the real energy rating can drop to an ‘E’ or an ‘F’ when sucking up dust at home. Bosch and Siemens deny the claims.
Dyson suggests the Siemens Q8.0 and Bosch GL80/In’Genius ProPerform are using the loophole to mislead the authorities, just as VW used software to cheat pollution tests in its diesel cars and vans.
Vacuum cleaner manufacturers are under huge pressure to make greener machines in the EU to reduce household electricity use.
From 2017, no vacuum cleaner more powerful than 900 watts can be sold. Machines with more than 1600 watts were banned in 2014. Dyson alleges that the Siemens and Bosch models use only 750 watts of power in the lab, but up to 1600 watts in real-world conditions when the dust sensor is triggered.
Dyson, which said it had begun legal proceedings, added: ‘Just like the testing regime for the diesel engines in cars, the European regulations state that vacuum cleaners
‘Misleading results’
should be tested in a laboratory without any attempt to replicate real-world conditions – which leads to misleading results.’
It said it would challenge the European Commission’s regulations that machines are tested in a ‘lab rather than living room… empty and with no dust.’ Dyson said the tests also do not take into account bags and filters that clog up and impair performance, nor bags that have to be replaced.
The VW scandal – which affects millions of cars worldwide and is expected to cost the firm billions of pounds – has raised doubts over official product assessments.
Suggestions that appliances from TVs and fridges are designed to impress in tests but perform less efficiently in the home have been made since the scandal broke.
In a joint statement, Bosch and Siemens said: ‘We do not understand these assertions by Dyson and we strenuously reject them.
‘All Bosch and Siemens vacuum cleaners are measured in compliance with European energy regulations. Appliance performance at home is consistent with laboratory performance – and any suggestion to the contrary is grossly misleading.’