The German automaker installed software created to defeat the tests on VW, Porsche and Audi vehicles from the 2014 to 2016 model years with six-cylinder diesel engines, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board. This NOV is also being issued to Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America.
Advertisement
The cheating was discovered by EPA and CARB tests performed after VW acknowledged in September that it rigged emissions tests for four-cylinder diesel engines on 11 million cars worldwide, including nearly 500,000 in the U.S.
2016 Audi A6 Quattro; A7 Quattro, A8, A8L and Q5.
“The latest revelations raise the question, where does VW’s road of deceit end?”, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton said in a statement, adding that the disclosure “prompts questions regarding the prevalence of the emissions cheating and how it went undetected for so long”.
Regulators said they uncovered the additional defeat devices after they started testing additional vehicles in the wake of the earlier discoveries.
The EPA said at least 10,000 vehicles are believed to be affected and that the investigations are ongoing.
VW officials, including U.S. CEO Michael Horn in congressional testimony, have claimed only a small number of software developers in Germany were responsible for the computer code that let the cars trick USA government emissions tests. When the vehicle senses that it is undergoing a federal emissions test procedure, it operates in a low NOx “temperature conditioning” mode.
Newer Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles with model years between 2014 and 2016 contain the devices, the EPA said Monday, allowing nitrogen-oxide emissions up to nine times the agency’s standard.
VW’s software on these vehicles includes one or more Auxiliary Emission Control Devices (AECD) that the company failed to disclose, describe and justify in their applications for certificate of conformity for each model. She said the environmental regulator has been communicating with Volkswagen about a recall plan and appropriate fix for the vehicles named in the first notice of violation, but has yet to see a satisfactory fix.
The company estimates it will take a year or two to fix all of the four-cylinder cars once the EPA approves the repairs.
The mechanism detects when an engine is being tested for tailpipe emissions and then alters the emission controls to permit more pollutants in actual driving.
Advertisement
VW may be liable for civil penalties and injunctive relief for the violations alleged in the November VW will have an opportunity to respond to the allegations contained in the November. Owners looking for additional information can visit: http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/cert/violations.htm and scroll down to Frequently Asked Questions.
