VW Faces $17B Fine for Emissions Scam

Source: VW TDI diesel recall and investigation extends to V6 3.0 engines

The EPA announced that 75,000 additional Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles equipped with the 3.0-liter diesel engine contain defeat devices, Automotive News reports. The agency revised the number of vehicles believed to possess emissions-cheating software from 10,000 to approximately 85,000 vehicles, bringing the total number of vehicles said to produce higher-than-advertied emissions levels in the U.S. to about 567,000.
. . .
Volkswagen AG now admits the emissions issue concerns the models named by the EPA, indicating that models from the 2009 through the 2016 model years are affected. ​

Bob Wilson

 

i guess you never come completely clean, no pun intended.

 

The 'stepped in the dog poo' analysis:

Then there is this:

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group will not offer compensation to European customers who bought a diesel car with "cheat" software, taking a different tack from in the U.S. where the automaker will provide a goodwill package worth $1,000 to affected owners.
. . .
VW says U.S. customers with rigged cars deserve compensation because they bought a vehicle specifically advertised as a "clean diesel." In the U.S., customers were investing in a niche technology compared with Europe where more than half of new cars sold are diesels, the company argues.
. . .​

Source: VW refuses compensation for European owners of rigged diesels

Reminds me of:

A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river. The frog hesitates, afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, they would both drown. Considering this, the frog agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When the frog asks the scorpion why, the scorpion replies that it was in its nature to do so.​

Personally, I never thought the money and VW dealer card were such good ideas. The dealer car, maybe, but the cash card, no. In the USA, it is not enough cure the problem but enough to remind VW buyers about what VW did.

Bob Wilson

 

and that tactic will probably fly in europe, they have such a different attitude toward diesel.

 

What, you mean the EU isn't the leader on clean air?

.

 

Their technical commission gutted bin 6.

Bob Wilson

 

Source: VW cars can also cheat European emissions tests, BBC learns - BBC News

. . .
After prepping the car to the letter of the regulations, the lab ran the standard Euro 5 emissions test. It's the same exam this model of car would have had to have passed before it went on sale.

And it passed. Emitting just 167 mg/km of poisonous NOx gases. The Euro 5 limit is 180 mg/km.

VW's clever software knows when it's being tested, because the routine is the same every single time. Starting with a cold engine, in a lab that's between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade, it's then driven for six miles on a rolling road, no turns, with exactly the same gear changes at exactly the same times, and all within a speed at two km/h either side of set limits.

The whole thing, including some idle time, always lasts 20 minutes and 20 seconds.

So, we then tried to trick the computer into thinking it was out of the lab, by simply accelerating hard a few times, taking it above motorway speeds. Straight afterwards, we ran the Euro 5 test again, but with one simple difference. We started with a hot engine this time.

The same car failed, spectacularly. Emitting 435 mg/km of NOx (remember the EU limit is 180 mg/km).

So, drive the same drive, but fool the car into thinking it's on a real road, and it chucks out two-and-a-half times the amount of pollution as before.
. . .​

That is OK. The EU technical commission gutted Bin 6.

Bob Wilson

 

Here in Germany, the responsibility for testing is different than in the US. The Manufacturer contracts the testing to a third party lab, in VW's case TÜV Nord, and supplies the lab with a prepared car and the road load (coast down) data. The results are then submitted to the Motor Vehicles Administration KBA (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt).
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/business/international/cozy-relations-complicate-europes-bid-for-new-car-tests.html?_r=0

As one might imagine, TÜV Nord, one of the biggest and most respected technical testing organizations in Germany, has been criticized for not finding the emissions swindle before the Americans. In their defense, the chairman of TÜV Nord tried to pass the blame to to lawmakers, saying that there is no law that allows them access to the manufacturer's proprietary engine control software.
TÜV-Nord-Chef: Prüfern waren Software-Tests untersagt - DIE WELT
google translation: Google Translate

Critical readers have pointed out that this is a weak excuse, because the US also has no such law, and the ICCT, EPA and CARB have found the deception without any direct software analysis.

 

It has been over two months since the news came out. Has "TÜV Nord" replicated the results of the BBC and others to reveal the defeat device?

I understand someone being fooled but to maintain any sense of professional skills "TÜV Nord" needs to confirm what others initially reported and help map out the problem.

Zuvor hatte TÜV-Nord-Chef Guido Rettig in der „Welt“ heftige Kritik an der Bundesregierung geübt und ihr vorgeworfen, wirksame Kontrollen der Motorsoftware verhindert zu haben. Zugleich konnte Rettig keine Erklärung dafür liefern, wie Volkswagen trotz Messungen des Prüfdienstes die Abgaswerte manipulieren konnte - er sprach von einem "Rätsel".​

The mystery is why is he still the chief operating officer two months after the original reports.


Bob Wilson

 

VW know they're untouchable. The nonsense that is EU law allows them to get away with it almost scott free;

VW refuses to pay British drivers compensation over emissions scandal | Daily Mail Online

VW vehicle values are dropping like stones here and there's no come back against VW. Well, I suppose you could avoid buying one of their products in future, cos let's face it, could you trust anything they ever say again? By the time they 'fix' the affected cars, performance and fuel economy will make the cars unviable.

 

The transportation minister announced that the KBA would be retesting about 50 diesel models. Since the KBA apparently doesn't have enough resources to do the retesting itself, the testing is being done by (guess who?) the TÜV and DEKRA. They are apparently the only ones in Germany capable of and available for such testing. However, they are taking care that no model is retested in the same lab that was used for the original test. (I am trying not to write with a tone of sarcasm)

The results are not to be released until all tests are finished.

Here is another article that may give more clues to the mystery:
Volkswagen: Behörde setzt bei Abgaskontrollen auf die alten Prüfer - DIE WELT

 

Thank you! What a mess.

As I was reading the article, I was thinking any high school or undergraduate chemistry class would have multiple students capable of making a credible field test. We have science fair contests for our high school students who often turn in clever projects. Since the established testing companies seem to have a problem . . . give the kids a challenge.

I have a lot of confidence in the technical skills of Europeans and find it it amazing that the kids have not done it on their own already. Within two years, field test units ought to be common and reasonably priced so any technical high school can do their own testing with credible results. The adults appear to have failed.

Now I am an old man but I would approach it using a home-made, gas, spectral analysis. A broadband, light source (aka., arc light) would be split with half passing through a reference and the other through the test gas stream. Both light beams would reflect off of a rotating diffraction grating on to a pair of sensitive light sensors to sweep the optical spectrum. Compare the two and calibrate the offending NOx gas presence with some sort of flow meter. But there are multiple approaches.

It would be equally valid to have set of test vials of reactants and pass a known quantity of exhaust gas with lab later analysis. Also, mylar balloons are common enough and could easily capture smaller sets of exhaust samples. But give the kids a challenge and I have no doubt they would be creative.

Bob Wilson

 

VW has a simple solution for EU models:
Green Car Congress: VW’s relatively simple technical fixes for cheating 1.6 and 2.0L diesels accepted by KBA; 1.2L fix coming by end of month

 

(The remedies announced by Volkswagen AG apply only to affected TDI vehicles in Europe, and not to affected TDI vehicles in the United States and Canada.)​

Nothing in the article about the engine and vehicle "handling" (i.e., acceleration.)

Bob Wilson

 

Thanks Gasper.
Here's a copy of my contribution there:

Remember that that these engines had no problem whatsoever to pass the emissions tests with the original software in greenwash mode on the dyno.

Therefore, exclusively from an emissions test standpoint, the spaghetti strainer in front of the airflow sensor is not necessary.

However, the new software will not simply run in the old greenwash mode all the time. It must make a delicate compromise between emissions and fuel consumption and power.

There is a fine line between optimum power, consumption, and emissions limits. More precise measurement of airflow allows more precise engine control, and allows the software to run closer to optimum power and consumption with reduced danger of crossing over the line into exceeding emissions limits.

Although the airflow smoothie probably does help reduce the undesirable side effects of reduced emissions, the advantage is probably no more than one or two mpg or horsepower. And again, it certainly was and is not absolutely necessary to meet emissions standards.

This fix is the final proof that VW deceived, not for technical reasons, but to gain an unfair illegal advantage over competitors.

 

Technical measures for the EA 189 diesel engines affected

 

The comments suggest concerns about mileage and power.

Bob Wilson

 

The proposed 'remedy' will include IMO different engine tuning.
As I understand it,with this 'straightening tube section', the air flow meter immediately after it is supposed to measure air flow more accurately so the engine can tune to run 'less lean' (still lean but closer to stoichiometric) reducing the Oxygen excess without increasing significantly CO. The target is very easy: 180 mg/km Euro 5.
This means IMO reducing performance.
If this solves the issue (in the EU), why it was not used in the EU instead of the cheating device?? After all, I doubt this is a new design they have developed and tested in the last 45 days! This is, IMO, an off the shelf design that was rejected in the past as non-sufficient (or not reliable?).
The fact it was accepted by the German regulators only indicates the huge influence WV has on them, the recent retreat from Euro 6 is another indication.

 

There was no law requiring on road testing. Without that requirement, no one was going to pay for it out of their pocket.

The ICCT paid for it because their goal is improving transportation emissions, and then, their earlier studies showing higher on road emissions didn't do follow up testing on whether there was actual cheating going on. AFAIK, the West Virginia University group they were working with were the first to do so. Without that, CARB, the EPA, or anybody else would have bothered to look further into VW's actions.

 

Source: CARB Forcing VW, Audi, Porsche to Fix More Diesels | TheDetroitBureau.com

The California Air Resources Board today sent an In Use Compliance letter notifying Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche to start the process necessary to recall and repair illegal emissions software in all 3.0-liter diesel vehicles, model years 2009 – 2015, sold in California.
. . .
Audi has played up the performance advantages of the 3.0-liter diesel engines used in utility vehicles, such as the Audi Q7, and the 3.0-liter diesel is popular in Porsche’s two most popular utility vehicles, the Cayenne and Macan.

California is also the single largest market for both Audi and Porsche and the new order from CARB targeting both brands is likely to put a crimp in sales.

In addition, CARB has begun an investigation of the new 2016 Porsche and Audi vehicles powered by the 3.0-liter diesel engines.

The companies now have 45 business days or until early December to assemble their plan and deliver it to the Air Resources Board.​

Today is the last amnesty day for VW employees to report what they know.

Bob Wilson