Time's Up: Volkswagen Must Submit 3-liter TDI Fix for Approval by Today
Volkswagen Group has until the end of the day Tuesday to submit its final plan to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding its illegally polluting 3-liter TDI engines, primarily used in Audi vehicles, reported Automotive News on Monday.
The deadline comes after an earlier proposal to fix 2-liter TDI vehicles was rejected by the regulatory agency and before Audi takes to the airwaves during Super Bowl 50 where we hope it’ll use the opportunity to tell us something more than just “buy this new, fancy, non-diesel car.”
We reported last month that a new catalytic converter was proposed by Volkswagen to fix its 2-liter diesel vehicles. Audi stated earlier that a fix for 3-liter vehicles would be much simpler.
Of the three auxiliary emissions control devices declared by Audi after the scandal broke, only one was determined to be a “defeat device” by regulators.
“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.
A fix could be as simple as a software reflash to change engine management. However, increased consumption of AdBlue — the liquid used to curb NOx emissions in Volkswagen’s diesel vehicles — in those vehicles is likely as a result.
Audi launched a Goodwill Package program, a carbon copy of Volkswagen’s program, for its 2-liter TDI-equipped Audi A3. It has yet to do the same for 3-liter TDI vehicles.
More by Mark Stevenson
Comments
Join the conversation
Muller will not expose the board obviously but what are his credentials in crisis management? Baptism by fire works some of the time. More often it results in a colossal mess. I have to wonder what the calculation is for opting to go down to the wire with regulators. For VAG's sake I hope they have thought about the pros and cons of their choices. This is Audi/Porche owners we are talking about. How is any of this reducing the uncertainty for the company?
where we hope it’ll use the opportunity to tell us something more than just “buy this new, fancy, non-diesel car.” Who's we? I want superbowl commercials that are entertaining and preferably feature sexy products that can kill you. The last thing I want to see is some foreign company attempting an awkward mea culpa. Seriously, why would they do this? Your last article about them explicitly laid out how they haven't really been caught up by this the way vw has (correct). The moral of the story so far might very well be, don't abmit anything, don't talk about it afterwards. Just like every lawyer tells nearly every client, and just like every other company does, for literally every other scandal.
According the Reuters via Yahoo, the plan has been submitted. No details about what is in the plan though .... https://news.yahoo.com/vw-submits-california-recall-fix-plan-3-0-002531034--finance.html
VW is delusional, apparently they are going around telling their employees not to worry and that "we didn't cheat, it was a misunderstanding of the rules" Revisionist history in the making!