Volkswagen on Thursday missed a court-imposed deadline to find a fix for the rigged software that allowed its clean diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests but was given a month extension to come up with a plan.
In U.S. District Court in California, Judge Charles Breyer said there had been progress made in discussions about how to fix the nearly 600,000 vehicles but no agreement had been reached.
The company has until April 21 to come up with a plan, Breyer said.
“I would hope by the 21st that as many outstanding issues as possible will be wrapped up,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
The company is accused of installing software on thousands of “clean diesel” vehicles that could tell when emissions tests were being held. The software would then switch to a normal mode when tests were done, allowing them to spew about 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen into the atmosphere.
Volkswagen equipped its 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter, clean diesel vehicles with the rigged software. About 585,000 vehicles have the “defeat device” software in the United States.
Nitrogen pollution can cause smog and release fine particulate matter into the air. Those pollutants are linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses that can cause premature death. Children, the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions see increased risk for harm when they are exposed to the pollutants, the Environmental Protection Agency says.
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the German auto giant, and the EPA and the California Air Resource Board are mulling punitive measures. A recall of the vehicles has not been announced in the U.S.
