Volkswagen Says Newer Diesels May Have Illegal Defeat Device, Too

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Volkswagen said Thursday that early versions of its EA 288 engines could have been equipped with the illegal emissions software at the heart of its diesel scandal, Reuters reported (via Automotive News).

The revelation would largely affect European cars, and could potentially expand the list of 11 million cars Volkswagen will be forced to recall this year.

U.S. cars using the “Generation 3” engine, which include 2015 models of the Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, Beetle and Passat and Audi A3, were already included in the stop-sale and notification by the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the automaker, Volkswagen and Audi cars fitted with the EA 288 engine designed to meet Euro 5 emissions standards may have had the software installed. Cars built to comply with more stringent, Euro 6 standards do not have the software.

“I think it is a big problem,” Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, head of the Center of Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, told Reuters. Volkswagen didn’t say how many cars could be affected by the newly uncovered information, which doesn’t bode well for the automaker.

“It suggests it doesn’t know its product, which is a tragedy,” he added.

According to Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn, who testified in front of a congressional committee Oct. 8, “Generation 3” cars with the EA 288 engine could be fixed in early 2016 with a software change. Older cars with the EA 189 engine, which was the predecessor to the EA 288, would take significantly longer to fix, Horn said.

The automaker said roughly 482,000 cars in the U.S. were affected by the cheating scandal. The vast majority of those cars — more than 75 percent — were older, first- and second-generation models.


Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

More by Aaron Cole

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 3 comments
  • Dusterdude Dusterdude on Oct 22, 2015

    Man, those "few engineers" were really busy !

  • Andrewa Andrewa on Oct 23, 2015

    UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph have informed us that according to independent tests in Germany the Chev/Vauxhall/Opel Zafira not only bursts into flame at inopportune times but the diesel model apparently also has a "test mode" that emits reduced nox etc. when the back wheels are not turning on a rolling road under Euro6 test protocol. I wonder whether the fine for this supposed cheating will match the Fine in the US for Volkswagen?

  • ArialATOMV8 All I hope is that the 4Runner stays rugged and reliable.
  • Arthur Dailey Good. Whatever upsets the Chinese government is fine with me. And yes they are probably monitoring this thread/site.
  • Jalop1991 WTO--the BBB of the international trade world.
  • Dukeisduke If this is really a supplier issue (Dana-Spicer? American Axle?), Kia should step up and say they're going to repair the vehicles (the electronic parking brake change is a temporary fix) and lean on or sue the supplier to force them to reimburse Kia Motors for the cost of the recall.Neglecting the shaft repairs are just going to make for some expensive repairs for the owners down the road.
  • MaintenanceCosts But we were all told that Joe Biden does whatever China commands him to!
Next