VW diesels have new software that is affecting emissions tests

Volkswagen’s 2016 models of its diesel vehicles are equipped with software that could skew the results of government emissions tests, making the company’s engines appear cleaner than they are, according to an admission by the company to regulators.

Last month Volkswagen acknowledged it had used rigged software, called a defeat device that altered the running of the emission control systems to pass the testing procedures, with the tally of autos affected by the scandal being of 11 million worldwide.

It operates differently from the so-called “defeat” device that last month triggered the cheating scandal engulfing the carmaker.

USA regulators haven’t determined the legality of a new emission-control device on Volkswagen’s VOWG_p.Delaware 2016 diesel models, a top official said on Tuesday.

The second software makes a pollution-control catalyst heat up faster, improving performance of the device that separates smog-causing nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and oxygen gases.

While regulators have not yet determined if the software in the 2016 models is meant to cheat emissions tests, Janet McCabe, acting assistant EPA administrator for air quality told reporters Wednesday the agency was questioning the company.

VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said: “This has the function of a warm-up strategy which is subject to approval by the agencies”. “We’re getting a few solutions from them, however we don’t have all of the solutions but”.

EPA’s McCabe wouldn’t say if Volkswagen’s failure to disclose the software in its 2016 application for emissions certification was illegal. Diesel variations of the Passat sedan manufactured on the firm’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are also on maintain.

Automakers routinely place auxiliary emissions control devices on passenger vehicles, though they are required by law to disclose them as part of the process to receive the emissions certifications that are required to sell the cars.

In addition to government investigations in the US, Germany and other countries, Volkswagen faces more than 280 class-action lawsuits and a few of its executives may face charges.

AP first reported October. 7 that the EPA and California Air Resources Board have been investigating “the character and function” of further software on the new VW fashions, however on the time each the corporate and regulators declined to offer particulars about what the system does or the way it works. “I do not need to converse to any potential topics of an enforcement exercise”, she stated. The staffer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about the ongoing investigation.

Last week, the head of Volkswagen’s United States business, Michael Horn, said only “a couple of software engineers” were responsible.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission, which probes companies accused of deceptive advertising, has joined the EPA and the Justice Department in investigating Volkswagen.

News of the second cheat software device came to light when the company withdrew applications for approval to sell the 2016 diesel cars in the US.