VW’s Dieselgate saga may get even more complicated, with the company recently disclosing that its 2016 diesel-powered models have additional suspect software.
Up until now, VW had assured everyone that its 2016 models have no problems, but this fresh development explains why last week the carmaker withdrew applications for approval to sell the 2016 cars in the US.
According to a report from The Associated Press, the suspect software potentially would help exhaust systems run cleaner during government tests. VW confirmed to the news agency on Tuesday that the “auxiliary emissions control device” operates differently from the “defeat device” software installed on its 2009 to 2015 models. VW first told US regulators about the new software on September 29.
The announcement is a new blow to VW dealers, who were looking for new cars to replace the older ones they are no longer allowed to sell because of the emissions cheating scandal.
Because of this new discovery, thousands of 2016 Beetles, Golfs and Jettas will remain quarantined in US ports until a fix can be developed, approved and implemented. Also on hold are diesel versions of the Passat sedan built at the company’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Depending on what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finds about this new software, VW risks an even more severe punishment than the maximum $18 billion fine for the defeat device.
If the EPA rules the new software is a second defeat device aimed at cheating government emissions tests, it would dismantle VW’s theory that only a handful of rogue software developers were responsible for the cheating scheme. Installing a separate device in 2016 cars could suggest that VW has had a long-term strategy to influence US emissions tests that was not ended even after regulators began asking the company last year about irregularities with the emissions of older cars.
The software on 2016 cars has the role of making a pollution-control catalyst heat up faster, improving performance of the device that separates nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and oxygen gases.
Note: 2016 VW Passat TDI pictured
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