The EPA and California Air Resources Board are investigating “the nature and purpose” of the device, she said.
Advertisement
Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith said the university should receive part of any settlement or fine imposed on VW by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The United Kingdom will re-test Euro 5 category diesel cars which VW group has confirmed contain the defeat device software. He indicated he knew of the problem only after WVU researchers found the problem.
The software, known as a “defeat device”, ensured that vehicles met emissions standards in laboratory and test environments, but not in normal driving circumstances.
Of the several members of Congress who recounted love affairs with their trusty VWs during the hearing, Rep. Morgan Griffith may be the one most directly harmed by the company’s emissions cheat.
The lack of certification is bad news for American VW dealers who had hoped to put the new models on sale soon. He inherited his grandmother’s 1972 Super Beetle, which he still owns. In the 1980s, he says he bought a Rabbit, and in the 1990s he bought a gas-powered Jetta.
“This is a whole lot of money, I’m quite sure”, he said.
German police raided auto giant Volkswagen’s headquarters and other sites Thursday, as part of an investigation into a massive pollution-cheating scandal engulfing the group.
U.S. CEO Michael Horn tells lawmakers that the company may pay customers for a loss in resale values because of the scandal.
The previous Porsche chief, who assumed control over the driver’s seat at VW at the emergency’s stature, said he didn’t trust top administration could have been mindful of the scandal, which debilitates to cost the organization billions in vehicle upgrades and fines.
On Thursday, Volkswagen’s US executive Michael Horn apologized before a congressional committee for the deception over software that evades emissions tests.
“Someone had to approve it initially and keep approving it for seven or eight years, and then start lying about it more when it was discovered”, Brauer said.
“To my understanding this was not a corporate decision, this was something individuals did”, Horn said, adding that he felt personally deceived. Earlier reports had indicated Horn may have known about the software hack a couple of years ago.
“Let me be very clear – we at Volkswagen take full responsibility for our actions and are working with all the relevant authorities in a co-operative way”.
VW’s board of directors has actually employed US law firm Jones Day to conduct an investigation.
Horn said the company does not yet have an approved recall plan for cars that have the defeat device, and that any fix for customers could take “one or two years” to carry out.
Horn said software changes alone will work to fix newer models, but 430,000 cars dating to 2009 will need mechanical repairs that are still being developed.
Advertisement
He said officials “don’t need to unbox 10 million lines of code” to stop the so-called loss gadgets and are focused on getting VW to fix the vehicles.
