EPA, California say VW cars cheated emission tests

OREANDA-NEWS. September 22, 2015. Nearly 500,000 Volkswagen (VW) diesel cars sold in the US since model year 2009 have been designed to cheat on emissions tests according US and California regulators.

The regulators issued notices of violation to VW today that will require the automaker to recall the 482,000 2.0 liter 4-cylinder diesel cars which had the defeat devices installed from model years 2009-2015. The affected vehicles include VW Jettas, Golfs, Beetles, Passats and the Audi A3, which emitted 10-40 times the allowable level of NOx during real-world conditions.

The executive officer of the California Air Resources Board (ARB) Richard Corey said the state agency found over the last year that the cars emitted far more NOx that they should and shared the results with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During technical meetings earlier this month between the regulators and VW the automaker admitted the cars had 'defeat devices' which only fully turned on their NOx pollution controls when the vehicle was being tested. In effect, the cars' software was designed to detect when they were undergoing emissions testing procedures and only fully turn on the emissions controls during test procedures. NOx emissions controls can lower the performance and fuel efficiency of cars and trucks.

EPA said that the automaker only admitted the existence of the defeat devices when it and ARB threatened to withhold emissions certification of the automaker's model year 2016 vehicles. EPA and ARB said their investigation into the cheating on emissions tests is ongoing.

Corey said the agency was tipped off to the issue last year by on-road emissions investigations of VW's cars from the International Council on Clean Transport (ICCT) and West Virginia University. An analysis issued by the ICCT earlier this month also pointed to diesel vehicles from Volvo, Renault, and Hyundai having very poor NOx emissions results during their tests.

VW said in a statement that it is cooperating with the investigation but was unable to comment further. Under the Clean Air Act EPA is authorized to issue fines up to \\$37,500 per vehicle in violation, taking the firm's possible liability up to \\$18bn.