A Porsche Cayenne diesel SUV is one of more than a half dozen new vehicles from Volkswagen AG that allegedly used emissions defeat devices to pass federal testing. Volkswagen AG wishes to emphasize that no software has been installed in the 3-liter V6 diesel power units to alter emissions characteristics in a forbidden manner. A company spokesman previously told Business Insider that Porsche was “not affected by VW’s problem”.
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The software enables a vehicle to detect when it’s being tested for emissions so that it can control its pollutant output.
A few models from both brands with a V6 diesel engine, including the Audi A6 sedan and Q5 SUV, and Porsche’s Cayenne were named alongside the VW Touareg.
In total, the notice of violation was sent to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America.
During that time, the vehicle engages measures to ensure that it meets the EPA’s emissions standards.
The latest charges follow VW’s admission in September that it rigged emissions tests for four-cylinder diesel engines on 11 million cars worldwide.
In September, Volkswagen admitted that it illegally installed software in its eleven million diesel cars to cheat the emission test results. In total, 10,000 cars in the United States have been implicated. Immediately after testing is finished, the software switches into standard drive mode in which poisonous nitrogen oxide emissions rise to up to nine times the EPA’s standard, the agency said. Michael Horn, the CEO of VW’s American division, said in testimony before the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee that isolated engineers were responsible for cheating. While the vehicles are legal and safe to drive, VW will have to eventually recall them to bring them into compliance. The EPA estimates around 10,000 cars up to the 2016 model year are involved, plus an unknown amount of 2016MY cars.
Volkswagen engineers took a sneaky approach when fitting these vehicles with the “defeat device” software, the EPA alleged.
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VW was already facing a fine of as much as $18 billion from USA regulators for violating the Clean Air Act, because each vehicle found in violation can be subject to a $37,500 fine.
