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Volkswagen facing billions in EPA fines plus recalls over software that evades EPA emissions standards


Mr. Ambien

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http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-has-refit-plan-for-emissions-rigged-vehicles-says-ceo-1443525496


Volkswagen Has Refit Plan For Emissions-Rigged Vehicles, Says CEO

Technical solutions to be submitted to relevant authorities in October

FRANKFURT— Volkswagen AG has a plan to refit vehicles affected by software that can rig an exhaust-emission test, the company’s new chief executive said, outlining what is expected to be a massive recall.

Matthias Müller told managers at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg that a project team put together “a comprehensive action plan” over the weekend and would inform customers shortly about refitting their vehicles.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen said it would submit its technical solutions to regulators and environmental authorities for approval in October, and set up websites to inform affected customers.

Europe’s biggest car maker became engulfed in an emissions scandal after U.S. environment authorities said September 18 that it intentionally installed software in some diesel-powered cars to pass U.S. emissions tests. The company has since faced a management shake-up, a $25 billion drop in its market value and demands for clarification from authorities world-wide.

On Tuesday, the Volkswagen-brand car chief, Herbert Diess, was meeting with EU Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska in Brussels to discuss the crisis, the EU Commission said.

“We expect Volkswagen to explain the situation,” commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said Tuesday. “The commission wants facts and wants to get to the bottom of this.”

On Monday, the 62-year-old Mr. Müller addressed a group of more than 1,000 Volkswagen managers and called on them to change the corporate culture.

“Nothing can justify deception and manipulation,” Mr. Müller said, according to his prepared remarks viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

“The aim is to regain lost confidence. This requires an uncompromising and consistent clarification,” and enhanced compliance and governance structures, he said.

Mr. Müller took over as Volkswagen chief executive on Friday after his predecessor, Martin Winterkorn, stepped down. Mr. Winterkorn apologized for misconduct at the company, but insisted he had been unaware of any wrongdoing on his part.

Oliver Blume, a Porsche board member, is expected to be named to replace Mr. Müller atop the sports-car maker, a person familiar with the matter said.

Separately, two former Volkswagen executives, denied knowledge of the rigged software. Bernd Pischetsrieder, who preceded Mr. Winterkorn as CEO, and Wolfgang Bernhard, now a Daimler AG executive, rejected reports they were aware of the software’s use during their tenure at the company.

On Wednesday, Volkswagen’s largest shareholders and labor representatives are due to meet again to discuss how the company came to dupe U.S. authorities by manipulating emissions tests, according to a person close to the supervisory board.

Volkswagen has admitted that around 11 million of its cars contain software that makes them perform better in emission tests, but it expects that fewer vehicles will be affected, Mr. Müller said, since the software hasn’t been activated in all the vehicles.

Volkswagen owns 12 car, commercial vehicle and motorcycle brands, of which five contain the software in question. It is installed in Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat cars and some light commercial vehicles.

“[This will be] the biggest service action in the company’s history,” said Christian Buhlmann, Volkswagen’s spokesman for technical issues, although the company has yet to determine how many vehicles need refitting.

The refitting will involve a change of software and possible hardware changes, too, Mr. Buhlmann said. The software change can be performed quickly, and hardware changes will take “at most a few hours,” he said.

As part of servicing, the software that controls the engine has to be updated. Volkswagen expects that carbon dioxide emission and fuel consumption will rise as a result of the software switch, but only minimally, and still within environmental standards.

In some cases hardware changes will also be necessary. In vehicles with 1.2-liter and 1.6-liter engines, which aren’t sold in the U.S., a hardware change will likely be necessary because a fuel injection pump has to be replaced to ensure a smooth ride, Mr. Buhlmann said. In Europe, vehicles with 2-liter engines will only need a software update, but it isn’t clear whether that would suffice in the U.S. due to different standards.

All the measures have to be approved by authorities before they can be implemented.

“We’ll use October to present the planned technical solutions to the relevant authorities—the Motor Transport Authority in Germany, and the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board in the U.S.,” he said.


I'm guessing they're going to have to add a urea exhaust treatment system to the US/Canada cars to meet EPA standards. This current solution appears to be more Euro-centric at this time (understandable given both the larger number of vehicles and the deadline given by the German government). As such though, North Americans will have to wait for more concrete answers still.

I'm also still going with that the 2015+ EA288 motor is not or is minimally affected.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://www.newser.com/article/dd862c6b0ad247d08cd7557d0f03dbd4/the-latest-vw-is-looking-at-compensating-diesel-car-owners-in-emissions-cheating-scandal.html

Volkswagen says most of the 500,000 U.S. cars with diesel engines that cheat on emissions tests will need complex hardware and software fixes that will take several years.

U.S. CEO Michael Horn is telling a U.S. House subcommittee that the cars will still get the window sticker fuel mileage when they are repaired. But the fixes might affect performance, including a one-or-two mile-per-hour drop in top speed.

Horn says software changes alone will work for newer models, but 430,000 cars dating to 2009 will need mechanical fixes that are still being developed.

Horn says software will repair about 90,000 newer Passat models, but they may need an additional sensor.


http://www.autonews.com/article/20151008/OEM02/151009826/older-vw-diesels-will-need-software-and-hardware-fixes-horn-tells

WASHINGTON -- A software fix won’t be enough to bring most of the 482,000 vehicles involved in its emissions violations scandal into compliance with U.S. clean air laws, Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn testified in a congressional hearing today.

Horn told lawmakers on a U.S. House oversight subcommittee that hardware changes and software changes will be needed for the cars that use the first generation of VW’s EA189 2.0-liter turbodiesel, starting with the 2009 VW Jetta TDI.

“We know we can fix these vehicles” to satisfy emissions standards, Horn said.

About 325,000 VWs have the first-generation 2.0-liter diesel, while 90,000 use the second-generation engine, including the 2012 Passat diesel, according to a VW spokeswoman. About 67,000 vehicles from the 2015 model year forward use the third-generation diesel engine. The third-generation engines do meet emissions standards and can be made compliant with a software change alone, Horn said.

Customers receiving repairs should expect to maintain the EPA fuel economy ratings on their vehicles after receiving a fix, though performance may be impacted, Horn told lawmakers.

Repairs might take 5 to 10 hours on the older cars needing hardware changes, Horn said. All told, it could be more than a year until all the repairs are complete, citing the low rate of recall participation in the U.S. and other complexities, Horn said.

Apologies

In his testimony, Horn apologized for the violations and strongly denied he was aware of the software that regulators now say helped 482,000 VW diesel vehicles skirt U.S. emissions rules.

He said the use of the defeat software in diesel cars was not a corporate decision, but something that "individuals did."

"This was a couple of software engineers who put this in for whatever reason," he said.

In his opening statement, Horn said he was told in early 2014 of a “possible emissions non-compliance that could be remedied” when West Virginia University published research showing two VW diesels emitted far more emissions in real-world driving than in lab tests. However, Horn said, he had no knowledge at the time that the vehicles contained the so-called defeat devices.

In July 2014, Horn said, VW engineers confirmed that the results of the WVU study were correct and said a software change was being prepared to address the issue.

“I was not then told nor did I have any reason to suspect or to believe that our vehicles had such a device,” Horn told members of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

In questioning, Horn said he first learned of the defeat devices a couple of days before VW’s Sept. 3 meeting with the EPA and the California Air Resources Board during which the devices were disclosed to regulators.

Global pressure

The hearing comes as VW faces mounting pressure from the U.S. government on multiple fronts in the wake of its diesel emissions violations. Probes by the EPA and CARB are ongoing after the clean air regulators disclosed VW’s violations on Sept. 18.

The Department of Justice has reportedly opened a criminal probe in the matter, while bipartisan leaders from the Senate Finance Committee have opened a probe into whether VW made false representations to the government in its push to qualify its 2009 Jetta diesel for a $1,300 clean car tax credit.

The crisis has upended the company globally, sending its stock price tumbling and prompting a management shake-up, with the VW board naming Matthias Mueller as company CEO following the resignation of former chief Martin Winterkorn. Some 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide contain the illegal software, VW has said, and the company plans to launch a global recall to address the problem soon.

Mueller told a German newspaper this week that a recall could begin as early as January, but a VW of America spokeswoman said that timeline applies only to European-market models.

The EPA and CARB must validate and sign off on VW’s repair plans before they can be offered to U.S. customers. Horn said the third-generation diesel cars, starting with the 2015 model year, could begin to be repaired as early as January. Repairs on older cars will begin later given the technical complexity of the anticipated repairs, Horn said.

Withdrawn application

This week, VW also withdrew its application for EPA certification that VW’s 2016 models with 2.0-liter comply with U.S. emissions standards.

Without EPA certification, the cars and light trucks can’t be sold, which likely means there will be a longer-than-expected wait for the diesel models.

VW had been awaiting EPA approval for the 2016 diesels, but withdrew its request as part of ongoing discussions with U.S. regulators following emissions violations.

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http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1100383_2016-vw-diesel-lineup-withdrawn-jetta-passat-golf-beetle-tdi-models-may-be-modified

Michael Horn, CEO of Volkswagen's U.S. arm, will testify today before Congress on the VW diesel-emission cheating scandal, including what he knew and when he knew it.

His testimony, released yesterday, included a nugget of future product information: VW has withdrawn its application for certification of 2016 model-year Jetta, Golf, and Passat TDI diesel models.

The company is now working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board on a software update that would modify those cars--after which it will resubmit them for certification...

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This is largely overblown IMO. Gas engines will pollute more (just like they get lower MPG) in 'real world' driving conditions as well.

They design the engines and pollution controls (gas or diesel) to pass the specific, required tests. Not for highly variable 'real world' driving.

I mean was the car going uphill? How many passengers? Cargo? What type/quality of fuel? Elevation? Ambient temperature? AC on?

Anybody who actually thought they'd get the test levels of pollution or mpg out of a car loaded with 4 overweight Americans and their luggage driving at elevation through Flagstaff Arizona, in July, at 3pm with the AC cranked...I don't know what to tell you.

Also '2.6X official levels' that are almost zero, is still almost zero.

I'm as pro environment as just about anyone but until electric cars and renewable energy are more mainstream (it IS coming!), gas/oil burning engines are about as clean as they're going to get at anything resembling reasonable prices. All the more reason to move away from them ASAP but this whole fiasco is a bit overblown IMO.

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This is largely overblown IMO. Gas engines will pollute more (just like they get lower MPG) in 'real world' driving conditions as well.

They design the engines and pollution controls (gas or diesel) to pass the specific, required tests. Not for highly variable 'real world' driving.

I mean was the car going uphill? How many passengers? Cargo? What type/quality of fuel? Elevation? Ambient temperature? AC on?

Anybody who actually thought they'd get the test levels of pollution or mpg out of a car loaded with 4 overweight Americans and their luggage driving at elevation through Flagstaff Arizona, in July, at 3pm with the AC cranked...I don't know what to tell you.

Also '2.6X official levels' that are almost zero, is still almost zero.

I'm as pro environment as just about anyone but until electric cars and renewable energy are more mainstream (it IS coming!), gas/oil burning engines are about as clean as they're going to get at anything resembling reasonable prices. All the more reason to move away from them ASAP but this whole fiasco is a bit overblown IMO.

Agreed it's overblown. But still looks to be a huge legal concern for the offending parties. Might be part of the 'sinister green agenda.'
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Agreed it's overblown. But still looks to be a huge legal concern for the offending parties. Might be part of the 'sinister green agenda.'

Sinister American plot to sell more domestic makes? Come on. Would any normally educated free thinking person choose a Chrysler, Ford, or GM over the foreign products mentioned in the article? "Gimme that Dodge; I don't want one of those crappy - smoke producing - Mecedes".

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Sinister American plot to sell more domestic makes? Come on. Would any normally educated free thinking person choose a Chrysler, Ford, or GM over the foreign products mentioned in the article? "Gimme that Dodge; I don't want one of those crappy - smoke producing - Mecedes".

Come to think of it Denmark has decided to raise the tax on Tesla's to essentially triple their price.

http://www.bidnessetc.com/54621-tesla-motors-inc-ev-prices-to-triple-in-denmark/

Whut happened to globalization?

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  • 6 months later...

VW forges U.S. deal arising from diesel emissions scandal

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKCN0XI24G

 

Quote

Volkswagen AG, driving to move beyond a scandal that has disrupted its global business and sullied its reputation, announced a sweeping U.S. deal on Thursday to buy back or potentially fix about a half million polluting diesel cars and set up environmental and consumer compensation funds.

 

The settlement, which sources and analysts said could cost VW at least $10 billion, is not likely to end the Dieselgate controversy that began last September when the world's No. 2 automaker admitted using sophisticated secret software in its cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests.

 

Despite the potentially big price tag, Volkswagen shares rose 6 percent on Thursday after rising nearly 7 percent on Wednesday on news of the agreement, which must be finalized by June 21.

VW shares are still down nearly 20 percent since the emissions cheating was exposed as investors worried not only about large fines and management instability, but the toll the scandal would take on the German automaker's efforts to stay competitive.

 

VW still faces U.S. Justice Department fines as part of an expected civil settlement, an ongoing Justice Department investigation that could lead to criminal charges and an outcry in Europe to do more for millions of owners of vehicles there that also have illegal software to defeat emissions testing.

The framework of the deal was hammered out by VW with the Justice Department, state of California, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Trade Commission as well as lawyers for car owners who filed class action civil lawsuits.

 

It was brokered by former FBI director Robert Mueller, the court-appointed mediator, in marathon talks at a Washington law firm over the past week. It is expected to settle more than 600 class suits in U.S. courts.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who outlined the agreement during a hearing in San Francisco, said he expects the issues of Justice Department fines and resolving the 3.0 liter engines will be addressed "expeditiously."

 

Breyer did not disclose the amount of money involved, and ordered lawyers for all parties not to disclose details until they were final. He said there is "definite momentum" toward a final resolution.

 

The judge set the June 21 deadline for VW and the other parties to nail down the final details before the agreement faces a public comment period. It would need final judicial approval before taking effect.

 

The judge said the settlement includes VW's offer to buyback 482,000 2.0-liter vehicles, fix them if regulators agree on that step after further testing, or cancel outstanding leases.

 

Big automakers have shown resiliency once damaging scandals are resolved. Toyota Motor Corp and General Motors Co have been rocked by safety scandals in recent years, paid substantial penalties to regulators, and both are now healthy.

Volkswagen issued the following statement following the announcement:

Quote

Volkswagen is committed to earning back the trust of its customers, dealers, regulators and the American public.  These agreements in principle are an important step on the road to making things right.  As noted today in court, customers in the United States do not need to take any action at this time.

 

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  • 5 months later...

Tiny  gas 4cyl crap boxes are not efficient if you drive over 80km. They scream above 4k just to keep up just burning up the fuel as usual lol and the yuppie/hippies think they are saving the earth :bigblush:

 

Until the world wakes up and realizes we can power everything with water and photons we will be spinning our wheels so to speak.

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