VW had already admitted that it had cheated USA emissions standards by installing so-called defeat devices on 2009-2015 model year cars equipped with its 2.0-liter TDI engines.
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EPA officials said in a letter Monday that the investigation now includes a few 2014-2016 VW, Audi and Porsche models with 3.0-liter engines.
The latest notice from the EPA covers about 10,000 diesel vehicles sold in the US, and an unknown amount not yet sold.
“All companies should be playing by the same rules”, she said. “EPA, with our state, and federal partners, will continue to investigate these serious matters”, Giles said.
It is the second such notice of violation issued to Volkswagen by the EPA in its emissions testing scandal.
The EPA said Monday that the software on the six-cylinder diesels has a timer that turns on pollution controls when testing begins, including fuel injection timing, exhaust gas recirculation rate and fuel injection pressure.
More than 11 million vehicles globally have been identified as being part of the emissions scam, and the German autogiant is facing numerous lawsuits.
Under that testing mode, the vehicle meets emission standards. It says those from the years 2014 to 2016 are affected. The notice once again refers to a defeat device installed in vehicles, this device aimed at bypassing emissions tests for vehicles that would otherwise give off a whole lot more nitrogen oxide (NOx) than they appeared to.
So far, 508,000 Volkswagen cars, 390,000 Audis, 132,000 Skodas, 80,000 VW commercial vehicles and 77,000 Seats have been affected by the emissions scandal in the United Kingdom – and VW is preparing to recall and fix them.
Richard Corey, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board, said along with Canada, regulators have been working to ensure no other cheating is taking place. This is a very serious public health matter.
About 10,000 cars on US roads are affected.
Carmakers are permitted to use software to optimize engine performance in a few cases, but sidestepping emissions controls with a defeat device is prohibited by law. A status bit in the software indicates that a “temperature conditioning” mode is active.
“We are updating them with information as soon as we are able, so that as many questions are answered as possible”.
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When the EPA announced its initial investigation in September, the company quickly owned up to the scam.
