Audi, Porsche, more Volkswagen models added to cheat list

Volkswagen is in further trouble. The scandal-plagued carmaker has received a second notice of violation of the Clean Air Act with emissions test violations expanding to additional VW vehicles as well Audi and Porsche models.

The additional vehicles affected by the violation notice include the diesel versions of the 2014 VW Touareg, the 2015 Porsche Cayenne and the 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L and Q5.

These vehicles are equipped with 3.0-liter engines that release emissions of nitrogen oxide up to nine times the EPA standard, the agency said.

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The Clean Air Act violation notice issued Monday covers about 10,000 diesel passenger cars already sold in the U.S. since model year 2014. It also includes an unknown number of 2016 vehicles.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

“VW has once again failed its obligation to comply with the law to protect clean air for all America,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. The EP had “clear evidence” of the violation, according to the publication.

 

In September, Volkswagen admitted to using illegal software “defeat devices” to cheat U.S. pollution tests after being confronted by federal and state regulators.

Giles said VW designed the software to have the car run on two modes: “temperature conditioning” – the cheating mode – and “normal mode.”

The car reverted to normal mode “exactly one second” after the software detected that EPA testing conditions had stopped, Giles said.

The scandal led to the resignation of company Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn and multiple federal investigations, as well as up to $18 billion in federal fines.

“Today, we’re requiring VW Group to address these issues,” Richard Corey, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board, told the Times. “This is a very serious public health matter. We’re continuing to conducts rigorous investigation of more vehicles until all the facts are out in the open.”