Even More VW Diesel Cheat Devices Found By EPA

2014 Volkswagen Touareg TDI badge (Credit: Volkswagen )

As of writing this article, The United States EPA just announced that some of the 3.0-liter V-6 TDI engines used in Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi models have emissions defeat devices. This might not come as a surprise to some consumers, but others have believed that VW had come completely clean about its measures to hide emissions violations.

This news was originally broken by David Shepardson of The Detroit News and is already causing a growing ripple effect. Also as of the writing of this article, Volkswagen AG stock was actually up 3.11 percent, something that could change quickly as the news spreads.

For those who don’t remember, the original Dieselgate scandal involved a completely different engine, the 2.0-liter TDI that is used in vehicles such as the VW Golf, Passat and Jetta.

The EPA along with the California Air Resources Board issued a notice of violation letter to Volkswagen, along with Audi and Porsche. It states that the 3.0-liter TDI engine that was found to be non-compliant was used in the 2014 through 2016 model years. Among the effected vehicles is the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg TDI, the 2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel, and the 2016 Audi A6, A8, A8L, A7 and Q5. The total number of vehicles that reportedly have the cheat measure in place is about 10,000.

Among the details from the EPA letter is the allegation that once again a software measure was used to turn off emissions measures when the vehicles were being driven on the road, tricking testing equipment. In normal operation, the Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches give off up to nine times the pollution legally allowed.

The Volkswagen Group is encouraged to talk with the EPA at the end of the letter. That will surely be a pleasant conversation, considering the automaker never indicated that more TDI engines were outfitted with cheat devices after it was caught the one time. More details will surely be coming to light in the near future.