BREAKING: Audi Admits to Defeat Device, Details Fix For 3-liter Diesel Engines

Audi, a brand within Volkswagen Group that markets the majority of 3-liter diesel engines sold by the group in the United States, released a statement Monday detailing how it plans to fix vehicles that use a defeat device. The automaker also stated that three separate Auxiliary Emissions Control Devices — not just one — are used in 2009 and later 3-liter diesels used by Audi, Volkswagen (Touareg) and Porsche (Cayenne).

AECDs for those engines will “be revised, documented and submitted for approval,” Audi said in the statement.

Of the three AECDs, the EPA questioned the legality of a temperature conditioning procedure of the exhaust-gas cleaning system.

“One of (the AECDs) is regarded as a defeat device according to applicable US law. Specifically, this is the software for the temperature conditioning of the exhaust-gas cleaning system,” Audi said in a statement.

“The other two AECDs are for the avoidance of deposits on the Ad-Blue metering valve and of HC poisoning of the SCR catalyst with unburnt hydrocarbons,” according to Audi.

None of the AECDs specified by the automaker Monday were adequately documented or declared by Audi in its application for U.S. approval.

The software responsible for the AECDs will be updated and the appropriate documentation submitted to the EPA for approval. Audi did not specify how that software would be updated, though the removal of the illegal temperature conditioning program is likely while the other AECDs could remain.

Audi expects the fixes to cost “in the mid-double-digit millions of euros.”

The stop sale of affected models will continue until further notice. Those models include the Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7 from model years 2009 and later, the Volkswagen Touareg from model year 2009 and later, and the Porsche Cayenne from model year 2013 and later. Roughly 85,000 cars are affected, according to Reuters.

The diesel emissions scandal began on September 18 when 2-liter Clean Diesel models were found to emit more than 40 times the allowable level of NOx. About 482,000 cars were included in the initial notice by the EPA.

Later, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche were given a Notice of Violation on November 2 regarding the temperature control device employed by the 3-liter diesel. Volkswagen initially asserted that the AECD in question was legal, even though it was undeclared.

On Friday, Volkswagen revealed the same defeat device was used on all 3-liter diesels from the model year 2009 and later after the EPA had initially only targeted a small number of later model year vehicles.

A fix or fixes for smaller 2-liter diesels were not detailed in the statement.

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