VW accused of using software in 482,000 diesels to skirt U.S. clean-air rules

[GH85Carrera]

Volkswagen and Audi sold about 482,000 diesel vehicles with illegal emissions control software designed to make their cars appear cleaner in testing than they are in the real world, the EPA said today.
The software, included on VW and Audi vehicles from the 2009-15 model years with 2.0-liter turbodiesel engines, detects when a car is undergoing EPA emissions testing and turns on the vehicle’s full emissions controls. The software then switched off the full emissions controls during real-world driving, the EPA said in a statement.
EPA officials called the software a “defeat device” that allowed VW and Audi vehicles to fulfill emissions standards in lab testing, but emit nitrogen oxides at up to 40 times allowable levels in real-world driving.
The claims are also outlined in a letter and notice sent by EPA officials to VW executives today.
“These violations are very serious, not only because illegal defeat devices results in excess emissions many times the allowable standard, but also because VW was concealing the facts from EPA, the state of California and consumers,” Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said in a conference call. “We expected better from VW.”
No fines have been ordered for now, as the investigation is continuing, but the EPA decided to announce the alleged violations to inform the public and “to put VW on notice of our continuing investigation,” Giles said. The investigation is being conducted in cooperation with California regulators.
Under federal law, the EPA can levy a maximum possible fine of $37,500 per vehicle, EPA officials said on a conference call with reporters today, meaning VW and Audi face potential fines of up to $18 billion for the alleged violations.
The EPA and the California Air Resources Board began investigating Volkswagen after an independent analysis raised questions about the vehicles’ emissions levels, the EPA said in a statement.
“In September, after EPA and CARB demanded an explanation for the identified emission problems, Volkswagen admitted that the cars contained defeat devices,” the agency said.
“The dogged detective work in the lab provided the data and resulted in an admission that VW did indeed have a defeat device in its software for diesel cars,” Richard Corey, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board, said on the conference call.
VW officials were not available for immediate comment.
Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air & Radiation, said that the agency will “hold VW responsible” for recalling the affected vehicles to reduce the excess emissions, but said no recall order was issued as part of today’s announcement.
The affected vehicles are:
• 2009-15 model year VW Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Audi A3
• 2014-15 model year VW Passat
The alleged violations are a blow to Volkswagen, which has heavily marketed its wide range of “Clean Diesel” cars to stand out from the competition.
Vehicles with diesel engines account for a higher percentage of VW’s U.S. sales than any other brand. VW has also leaned on the performance of its diesel lineup as a key message to boost demand amid tepid U.S. sales, which are down 2.8 percent through August.
The alleged violations also come just days before VW plans to reveal a significantly updated 2016 Passat midsize sedan to journalists at an event in New York City on Monday, in which Lenny Kravitz was booked to perform.

[dennis in se pa]

This is big. This was deliberate! What fools!

BUT....

I bet there is a lot of this going on.

[KNS]

Ouch, they even admitted to it.

[pavulon]

They've made a lot of other diesels too. I'd imagine they were looked at before this story went public. If not, it could well be even bigger. What is happening to VW stock today?

[intakexhaust]

Perhaps German new World order auto?

[1975porsche]

In Canada there is no emissions test on diesels it's a five-minute watch of the exhaust pipe to make sure it doesn't emit black smoke under idle , just a huge tax grab here for diesels in Canada .

[304065]

Lenny Kravitz?

[mikester]

They did what every guy with a Porsche from 76 to the late 80s and EFI skills wants to do. Install something that they can program to do better on emissions test vs daily driving. The difference is that even under daily driving the EFI on the older porsche would likely still be better than the old mechanical FI and emissions pumps and what not.

Still bad. Wonder how many other manufacturers do this...

[intakexhaust]

I find it funny how easy to skirt poopoo test on older Audi's with punched out catalytic converters. Even once had a tester claim the cleanest numbers he's seen. LOL. They looked under the hood for any wiring or intake funny stuff. Green light baby...... let em' rip!

The diesel and todays emissions story is another ridiculous gov. money grab. Is everyone choking over VW and Audi 'die'sels?

[aigel]

Very interesting. I read on the TDI forums that some owners got letters calling back cars for software updates around emissions as early as April.

I am very concerned about this. No doubt this isn't as easy as updating the software to get good emissions, otherwise they would not have needed to cheat. Something else will suffer. It is either performance (and therefore mileage) or worse, the life of the emissions equipment and/or drivetrain ...

IMHO Germany, by the way, is a much more corrupt country as it is generally believed to be. I think I may be driving my last VW right now ...

G

[LakeCleElum]

Skirting Foolish over-regulation?? Say it ain't so.

[bpu699]

Is this a true story, or internet hoax? No company is stupid enough to do this...

[mistertate]

how do you think the car would have recognized that is is being tested?
did it recognize a drive cycle or did it recognize a sensor being connected?

[kach22i]

And I thought it was all the fault of the new low sulfur fuel which was making me sick.

I still think those older Diesels don't like the low sulfur stuff and only makes them pollute more.

VW/Audi could not resist the low hanging fruit, they should be made to pay.

[don911]

well this is just great. Just bought a 2015 Golf TDI for my California commuter.

[Chocaholic]

Now, that's German engineering!

[aigel]

This is a bit better article. It elaborates on loss of value on the used cars and the lawsuits VW can expect. Class action suits to come their way for sure. It also addresses the fact that many owners will not want to get the software update (you can include me in that group!).

VW could face $18-billion fine for evading smog rules, cheating pollution tests - LA Times

What a bunch of asshats.

G

[aigel]

Originally Posted by mistertate

how do you think the car would have recognized that is is being tested?
did it recognize a drive cycle or did it recognize a sensor being connected?

TDI guys on the forum think it could be wheel speed sensors. Two wheels stopped, two moving = you are being tested. Or drive maps that VW knows and can detect?

G

Here a quote from the EPA letter. Pretty sophisticated ...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=448053&page=5

The switch (ecm software) senses whether the vehicle is being tested or not based on varoius inputs including the position of the sterring wheel, vehicle speed, the duration of the engine's operatoin, and barometric pressure. These inputs precisely track the parameters of the federal test procedure used for emission testing for EPA certification purposes. During EPA emission testing, the vehicles' ECM ran software which produced compliant emission results under an ECM calibration that VW referred to as the "dyno calibration" (referring to the equipment used in emissions testing, called a dynamometer). At all other times during normal vehicle operation, the "switch" was activated and the vehicle ECM software ran a separate "raod calibration" which reduced the effectiveness of the emission control system (specifically the selective catalytic reduction or the lean NOx trap). As a result, emissions of NOx increased by a factor of 10 to 40 times above the EPA compliant levels, depending on the type of drive cycle (city, highway)

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Sadly, I don't trust the EPA any more than I trust VW on this, even if VW "did admit fault". Frankly, I did not see VW admit fault - I've only seen reporters say that VW admitted fault.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by aigel

Very interesting. I read on the TDI forums that some owners got letters calling back cars for software updates around emissions as early as April.

I am very concerned about this. No doubt this isn't as easy as updating the software to get good emissions, otherwise they would not have needed to cheat. Something else will suffer. It is either performance (and therefore mileage) or worse, the life of the emissions equipment and/or drivetrain ...

IMHO Germany, by the way, is a much more corrupt country as it is generally believed to be. I think I may be driving my last VW right now ...

G

I received one of the letters. Stated if you flashed your ecm you don't have to take it in, and frankly I didn't want it to become detuned sooooo vehicle never went to dealer...

I guess we'll be seeing the introduction of DEF in the future line up for vw...