The Volkswagen emissions scandal continues to grow as the automaker has been hit with more air pollution charges, covering additional model years as well as Porsche diesel vehicles.
Today the EPA issued a second notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Volkswagen Group of America. This NOV is also being issued to Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America — also part of the VW Group of companies.
The NOV alleges that VW developed and installed a defeat device to beat emissions regulations in certain VW, Audi and Porsche light duty diesel vehicles equipped with 3.0 liter engines for model years 2014 through 2016 that increases emissions of nitrogen oxide up to nine times EPA’s standard. The vehicles covered by today’s NOV are the diesel versions of: the 2014 VW Touareg, the 2015 Porsche Cayenne, and the 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5.
The EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have both initiated investigations based on Volkswagen’s alleged actions. The NOV covers about 10,000 diesel passenger cars already sold in the US since model year 2014. In addition, the NOV covers an unknown volume of 2016 vehicles.
These alleged violations are in addition to the NOV issued on Sept. 18 and the ongoing investigation by EPA alleging a defeat device on certain 2.0 liter engines for MY 2009-2015 vehicles.
Following the Sept. 18 NOV issued for 2.0 liter engines, on Sept. 25 the EPA initiated testing of all 2015 and 2016 light duty diesel models available in the US using updated testing procedures specifically designed to detect potential defeat devices.
That testing led directly to the alleged violations covered under today’s NOV. Affected diesel models include:
VW may be liable for civil penalties and injunctive relief for the violations alleged in the NOV. The EPA says it is Volkswagen’s responsibility to fix the vehicles’ emissions systems.
The emissions scandal could cost VW as much as $40 billion to cover vehicle refits, regulatory fines and lawsuits, according to some analysts.
EU member states last week agreed to use tests that more closely mirror real road conditions to measure diesel cars’ emissions. The EU Commission says laboratory tests do not accurately reflect the amount of air pollution emitted during real driving conditions. The EU still needs to approve the deal.
Emissions from European cars are on average four times the regulated NOx limit when measured in real-world driving, and CO2 is on average 31 percent over the limit, s according to Emissions Analytics.
