EPA says VW intentionally violates clean air standards

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says almost 500,000 Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars built in the past seven year are intentionally violating clean air standards by using software that evades EPA emissions standards.

The feature, known as a “defeat device”, results in the cars emitting as much as 40 times the legally permissible emissions, Giles said. They include the following models: the Jetta, Beetle, Audi A3, Golf and Passat.

“Motor vehicles equipped with defeat devices, which reduce the effectiveness of the emission control system during normal driving conditions, can not be certified”, says the EPA.

“Utilizing an annihilation gadget as a part of autos to sidestep clean air norms is unlawful and a risk to general wellbeing”, said Cynthia Giles, the EPA’s right hand director for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

The EPA worked in conjunction with the California Air Resources Board to uncover the defeat device, which is described as a piece of sophisticated software embedded in the cars’ computer systems.

Volkswagen may be liable for civil penalties over the findings, which could total up to billion if the EPA leverages its maximum find of $37,500 per vehicles.

Volkswagen said in a written statement that the company is cooperating, but declined further comment.

This is “thanks to the dogged investigations by our laboratory scientists and staff”, Corey said in a statement. California has also issued a notice of violation to the company. The Audi luxury brand is owned by Volkswagen Group.

EPA and California regulators discovered the device after researchers at West Virginia University and the worldwide Council on Clean Transportation “raised questions about emissions levels” in Volkswagen cars, the federal agency said.

Specifically, the software was designed to mask vehicles’ emission of nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that contributes to the creation of ozone and smoke and is linked to a variety of health problems, the Times reports.

But the EPA has ordered VW to recall the cars and fix the violation. There will be further actions taken if necessary, he said. The EPA said that while the models exceed emissions standards, they are not a safety hazard and are legal to drive and resell.