The noose is tightening around Volkswagen as German officials have ordered to company to recall vehicles that were rigged with software to evade emissions tests. Here’s what the CBC had to say on that:
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the country’s KBA automotive watchdog had ordered Volkswagen to start a mandatory recall of 2.4 million vehicles at the beginning of next year.
The Bild newspaper said the KBA had rejected the idea owners could voluntarily bring in their vehicles.
The KBA has given Volkswagen until the end of the month to come up with a plan for a software fix needed for 2.0 litre vehicles affected by the recall, Dobrindt said.
The carmaker has until the end of November to come up with a technical solution for 1.6 and 1.2 litre vehicles, he added.
That pretty much forces Volkswagen to come up with a fix now rather than sometime early next year which is what they announced that they were going to do. But the story doesn’t end there. It is now being reported that 2016 diesel models have additional software installed that may help them to cheat on emissions:
Volkswagen has disclosed to U.S. regulators that there is additional suspect software in its 2016 diesel models that would potentially help their exhaust systems run cleaner during government tests.
Volkswagen confirmed that the “auxiliary emissions control device” at issue operates differently from the “defeat” device software included in the company’s 2009 to 2015 models disclosed last month. That disclosure triggered the worldwide cheating scandal engulfing the world’s largest automaker.
The newly revealed 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.
VW spokeswoman Jeannine Minivan said the new issue with the 2016 diesel models, known as an auxiliary emissions control device, was first revealed last week to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California regulators.
“This has the function of a warm-up strategy which is subject to approval by the agencies,” Ginivan said. “The agencies are currently evaluating this and Volkswagen is submitting additional information.”
Automakers routinely place auxiliary emissions control devices on cars, though they are required by law to disclose them as part of the process to receive clean emissions certifications required to sell cars in the country.
Well, that’s just delightful. Even if this doesn’t help them to cheat on emissions, it’s likely not going to go over well just because of what has happened to date. If it does help them to cheat on emissions, expect a mushroom cloud to appear over VW HQ due to the bomb that is sure to be dropped on that company.
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This entry was posted on October 15, 2015 at 10:04 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Volkswagen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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The #DieselGate Scandal Gets Even Worse For Volkswagen
The noose is tightening around Volkswagen as German officials have ordered to company to recall vehicles that were rigged with software to evade emissions tests. Here’s what the CBC had to say on that:
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the country’s KBA automotive watchdog had ordered Volkswagen to start a mandatory recall of 2.4 million vehicles at the beginning of next year.
The Bild newspaper said the KBA had rejected the idea owners could voluntarily bring in their vehicles.
The KBA has given Volkswagen until the end of the month to come up with a plan for a software fix needed for 2.0 litre vehicles affected by the recall, Dobrindt said.
The carmaker has until the end of November to come up with a technical solution for 1.6 and 1.2 litre vehicles, he added.
That pretty much forces Volkswagen to come up with a fix now rather than sometime early next year which is what they announced that they were going to do. But the story doesn’t end there. It is now being reported that 2016 diesel models have additional software installed that may help them to cheat on emissions:
Volkswagen has disclosed to U.S. regulators that there is additional suspect software in its 2016 diesel models that would potentially help their exhaust systems run cleaner during government tests.
Volkswagen confirmed that the “auxiliary emissions control device” at issue operates differently from the “defeat” device software included in the company’s 2009 to 2015 models disclosed last month. That disclosure triggered the worldwide cheating scandal engulfing the world’s largest automaker.
The newly revealed 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.
VW spokeswoman Jeannine Minivan said the new issue with the 2016 diesel models, known as an auxiliary emissions control device, was first revealed last week to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California regulators.
“This has the function of a warm-up strategy which is subject to approval by the agencies,” Ginivan said. “The agencies are currently evaluating this and Volkswagen is submitting additional information.”
Automakers routinely place auxiliary emissions control devices on cars, though they are required by law to disclose them as part of the process to receive clean emissions certifications required to sell cars in the country.
Well, that’s just delightful. Even if this doesn’t help them to cheat on emissions, it’s likely not going to go over well just because of what has happened to date. If it does help them to cheat on emissions, expect a mushroom cloud to appear over VW HQ due to the bomb that is sure to be dropped on that company.
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This entry was posted on October 15, 2015 at 10:04 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Volkswagen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.