Federal regulators are investigating if Volkswagen used a second device to avoid federal regulations on one of the automaker’s new “clean diesel engines.”
Volkswagen officials confirmed that the company withdrew its 2016 certification application for the model year 2016 2.0L 4-cylinder TDI vehicles due to a “software feature” that it disclosed to regulators.
“In Volkswagen Group of America’s recent discussions with the regulators, we described to the EPA and CARB that our emissions control strategy also included a software feature that should be disclosed to and approved by them,” said VW spokeswoman Jennine Ginivan.
The software feature is an auxiliary emissions control device, which is an element of the software design that “senses engine temperature, rotations per minute, transmission gear ratio, road speed, manifold vacuum or any other parameter for activating, modulating, delaying or deactivating any part of the emissions control system,” Ginivan said.
The device must be reported to regulators in a certification application.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board are already investigating Volkswagen for installing “defeat devices” that allow vehicles to skirt emissions tests. The devices allowed popular models, such as the Jetta, to tell when they were undergoing emissions testing.
The defeat device is actually about 100 million lines of software code written into the vehicle’s programming.
The software could tell if a test was taking place based on the position of the vehicle’s steering wheel, the speed the vehicle was traveling, how long the engine was being used and barometric pressure, according to the EPA. The vehicles would reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide during testing and then spew 40 times the legal limit during normal use.
Volkswagen officials are blaming “rogue software engineers” for the installation of the devices.
At this point, regulators aren’t confirming that they have been notified of the possible second defeat device.
California Air Resources Board spokesman Dave Clegern said he couldn’t comment on any second device.
“We have an investigation under way about all the circumstances around the original defeat device,” he said.
EPA spokeswoman Julia Valentine confirmed the agency did receive notification of the newest software from Volkswagen.
The EPA is still investigating the software code and how it works.
“VW did very recently provide EPA with very preliminary information on an auxiliary emissions control device that VW said was included in one or more model years,” she said. “The US EPA and CARB are investigating the nature and purpose of this recently identified device.”
A California Air Resources Board official declined to specifically comment on the latest development.
