Three unapproved software programs were found on Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche models outfitted with 3.0-liter diesel engines, a German newspaper reports.
The publication Bild am Sonntag said that U.S. authorities discovered the software, though it didn’t reveal a source for the information, according to Reuters (via Automotive News).
The software programs were reportedly designed to shut down the vehicle’s emissions systems after 22 minutes of driving, cheating emissions tests that normally run for 20 minutes.
The automaker recalled about 85,000 diesel-equipped Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg models in the U.S. in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. It maintains that it will be able to fix those vehicles, which aren’t included in the $15.3 billion buyback settlement.
The California Air Resources Board recently rejected Volkswagen’s proposed 3.0-liter diesel fix, calling it “incomplete and deficient in a number of areas.” A nationwide fix for the vehicles needs approval from both CARB and the Environmental Protection Agency.
After creating a buyback program for its 475,000 U.S. 2.0-liter diesel models, the automaker wants to avoid a similar fate for its larger engines. The 3.0-liter engine is found in high-end SUVs, making any buyback program extremely costly.
Audi built the affected engines, and its engineers created the emissions-cheating “defeat device” software back in 1999. Executives from Audi will appear in a hearing with U.S. regulators on August 10, Bild am Sonntag reports.
[Image: Volkswagen of America]
Wow, I never would have seen this coming.
“The software programs were reportedly designed to shut down the vehicle’s emissions systems after 22 minutes of driving, cheating emissions tests that normally run for 20 minutes.”
Geez guys should have gone with at least a half hour.
28 Cars Later,
I just had a thought to help VW out.
If all cars trips where averaged, what would the average trip time be? 20 miniutes, or even less?
Like FE, VW can state that the 3 litre V6 diesel meets all of the EPAs criteria.
I should work for VW as their legal whip.
Logic != EPA jack boots.
Big Al, the EPA regulations specifically prohibit “defeat device” features in the emissions control systems. I’m sure all manufacturers use “creative interpretation” of EPA regulations, but most put some effort into understanding the details of the regulations and what will not be tolerated.
George B,
I was joking.
VAG would of been aware of this.
Why did VAG not just admit to all the emission cheating? I do believe if VW did this the EPA would be more accommodating with the company.
Well VW, you’ve done it again.
Because VAG didn’t take the crash course in public crisis management, even though I’ve had time to study the issue during the time their f*ckup has become public.
Crush ’em all.
Yes, but, what is the pollutant count in countries like Brazil and Indonesia with their slash and burn agriculture? Chinese coal power generation, or even Australian coal power generation?
What about volcanoes?
I do think VW should be given a hefty fine and leave the vehicles as they are.
How many pollutants come out of vehicles that don’t meet their claimed FE?
There are answers to all of your questions, but none of that relates to VW’s mounting difficulties in fixing its diesels.
And before someone gripes about the pollution caused by crushing these cars and making new ones, remember that these cars could be on the roads another 20 years.
VW needs to turn the page and rework its products and its image, not its diesels.
SCE to AUX,
What I’m stating is leave the vehicles as they are and make VW pay a huge fine.
Why fnck the company around? Who gains? Just pay a lot of dollars and be done.
You may be correct here. A lot of energy, hence emissions, go into manufacturing these vehicles, and it might be better to get the useful life out of them instead of destroying them and building replacements. VW, though, should be brought to their financial knees through massive penalties.
Why should they leave the cars alone? The fact is that they do have SCR systems on those vehicles and they should be able to fix them with a re-flash and maybe a larger DEF tank.
*If* the decision was made that crushing them was the only alternative I am fairly certain the wrecking yards would pull these cars apart and sell them piece by piece. The only thing that is not worth $$ is the motor.
We are talking VW here…lots of usable PW switches, AC units, airbags, etc. I would bet the environmental impacts would be negligible as everything buy the motor would be recycled.
Personally, I vote for the crusher. The punitive damage has to be severe enough to produce enough fear in any other manufacturer to not try the same scam.
VAG can’t win for losing.
They are their own worst enemy.
That was true even before the scandal. I really wanted to be a VW fanboy, but owning one cured me of that!
There’s a lot of us who feel the same way…
You’re lucky, some never recover.
Hmmm . . . maybe my A8 TDI is going to become like a slot machine spewing money! I was gonna drive it into the ground anyway!
Can this non story just die already? Who really cares about a cheat device? The cars get amazing gas mileage. That is more beneficial than a few extra bad things coming out of the exhaust pipe.
So as long as illegal, off-road only “tuners” for diesel pickups increase fuel economy, then much dirtier emissions are OK??
That’s basically what cheater VW TDIs gave us. An off-road tune similar to what’s been available for diesel pickups that bypass/eliminate emissions, but also dramatically increase fuel economy and power levels. The Feds are currently cracking down on off-road tuner “chip” makers/vendors though.
The story could’ve died a long time ago. Except VW keeps dumping diesel fuel on the fire.
Now my head is filled with Bowie singing “and I’m putting out the fiiiiire….with gasoline!”
Better than what it’s usually filled with. Carry on.
Inglorious Basterds is one of my fave flicks. The Goebbels was sickly hilarious.
I once had to burn a trash pile in a farm field and also had a couple jerry cans of diesel to get rid of since the farmer’s 60s-era MB was out of service (again). I actually did put the fire out with the diesel and had a heck of a time getting it to light again.
Oy vey, another commenter that does not understand the impact of raw diesel emissions on the human population in general. I wont go into detail – please, please educate yourself a bit prior to stating that unfettered diesel emissions are worth a few MPG. Seriously.
You’re absolutely correct. So why do we allow our public transit agencies to keep running these gross-polluter decades-old diesel buses who emit PMs equivalent to the total of all of the cars that they are taking off of the road?
Because Public Transit Agencies are to be viewed as more equals, per the high priests of the progressive delusion.
While it’s true that, all other things being equal, a car with better gas mileage emits less CO2 than one with worse mileage, what we’re talking about here is NOx. You can argue all you want on either side of global warming/CO2 emissions, but NOx is pollution in the traditional sense, in that it gets in the air and is bad for people who breathe. That said, my argument remains that the very small fraction of air pollution being emitted by VAG diesels is nowhere near worth the effort invested in remedying the situation. If we need to punish them or make an example of them to put fear and trembling into other automakers as a deterrent from similar behavior, fine. But there are other, greater sources of pollution that should be getting a lot more attention if the goal really is to have the cleanest possible air.
Its not just NOx with diesel emissions, it is the several IARC Class 1 and Class 2 carcinogens that end in -hyde and -ene being spewed from grey and black diesel emissions. SCR helps a bit with these, as it condenses the soot and burns it off, but it doesnt solve the problem, especially if the SCR isnt used in the first place a la VW.
Yes, NOx was the main offender in the VW saga, but certainly not the only one.
So the question for me is… Are they suggesting that penalty period might date all the way back to 1999?
No the 1999 date is just the point in time that the Audi engineers shared, with Bosch, the concept of shutting off the emission controls in cases where the vehicle was not being operated in a manner consistent with a gov’t emissions test. Supposedly they didn’t use it until much later when emissions regulations got much more strict for diesels.
So the answer is yes then. If it’s as you described they’ve been violating the law since 1999.
No. The software was developed in the late ’90s for use in testing and development. It wasn’t installed in production vehicles until someone decided to use it to get around the stricter 2008 emissions standards.
Takes about about 1/2 hour to warm up for some reason, then goes like hell.
Fify: “Takes about about 1/2 hour to warm up for some reason, then goes like stink.”
Sales of the 3.0L TDIs are already stopped here. What is the news? Was is suspected before and they finally proved it?
VW had tried to wave off the 3.0’s emissions problems as minor calibration and paperwork issues, in contrast to the deliberate fraud with the 2.0.
Why not compel VW to perform engine swaps with bigger in house engines (and all other required upgrades) or provide diesel vehicle replacements from BMW or MB, as well as cash reimbursements to owners.
There should be a hefty punitive price exacted on them for this foot dragging foolishness.
I like the idea of letting the owners choose another engine that was offered in the platform for a swap regardless of whether it is a step up or a step down.
But I’ve also been reading Hot Rod Magazine for the last 30 years.