Audi scandal: new illegal software to rig CO2 emissions? [Volkswagen Dieselgate]
AUDI SCANDAL - Spam software used by Audi is believed to be used to illegally minimize CO2 emissions from V6 gasoline and diesel engines during test bench tests.
The Volkswagen Group has admitted that “automatic gearshift programs can lead to incorrect and non-reproducible results. "
[Updated 11/16/2016 at 6:14 pm] AUDI SCANDAL - The Volkswagen scandal gives rise to a new chapter that concerns Audi. The Rings firm finds itself a little more in the eye of the storm, a year after the revelation of the "Dieselgate" against a background of cheating polluting emissions.
As a reminder, in September 2015, the Wolfsburg group admitted to having used rigging software to minimize nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from its Diesel engines in the United States after being pinned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US environmental protection agency.
- At the time, the parent company said the large-scale scandal affected 11 million of its vehicles around the world, including 5 million at Volkswagen and 2.1 million at Audi.
- Almost thirteen months after the revelation of the "Dieselgate", the Volkswagen group finds itself at the center of a new suspicion of cheating through its subsidiary Audi.
- The case concerns an illegal minimization of CO2 emissions from V6 gasoline and diesel engines during bench tests through the use of rigging software.
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Audi scandal: the revelation of the case
Once again, the storm wind that shakes the Volkswagen ship originated across the Atlantic. The accusations of cheating against Audi were leveled by the California Air Resources Board (Carb), the California environmental protection authority.
The beginnings of this new case were revealed in an article published last Sunday by the German daily Bild am Sonntag. He said Carb recently discovered illegal new software in an Audi model with a V6 engine.
Audi scandal: how the faking software works
The purpose of this new rigging software is to artificially minimize the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the models it equips. It acts on the automatic gearbox by being indexed to the inclination of the steering wheel.
This lets him know whether the car is on the road or a roller test bench. Thus, when the steering wheel does not move for a certain time, not more than 15° of inclination of the wheels according to the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, the software deduces that its vehicle is subjected to a test within the framework of checks carried out on the exhaust gas.
From then on, it comes into action with the automatic gearbox to minimize fuel consumption and de facto CO2 emissions.
Audi scandal: the reaction of the Volkswagen group
Since the revelation of the case on Sunday, November 6, 2016, no party concerned has reacted. Parent company Volkswagen refrained from comment until Sunday, November 13. In a letter to the German newspaper Sueddeutsch Zeitung, the Wolfsburg giant explains that "automatic gearshift programs can lead to incorrect and non-reproducible results."
For its part, the builder at the Rings has, to date, declined to comment on these accusations, referring through the voice of one of its spokespersons to ongoing discussions with the American authorities.
As for the California environmental protection authority, requested by the German press, it has so far refused to confirm the fraud. Audi is said to have used this illegal software until May 2016, eight months after the Volkswagen group's “Dieselgate” was revealed.
Audi scandal: the models concerned
The illegal software targeted by these new accusations from the United States would equip Audi A6, A8, and Q5. It would concern V6 engines, both gasoline and Diesel, associated with an automatic gearbox.
According to Bild am Sonntag, who did not cite a source, the California environmental protection authority discovered it during the past summer. In its article published last Sunday, the German newspaper indicates that Audi stopped using the cheating device in May 2016, after Carb discovered it on one of its vehicles.
Audi scandal: different from the Volkswagen "Dieselgate"
Bild is Sonntag specifies that this is a different software from that by which the so-called "Dieselgate" scandal erupted in September 2015. While Volkswagen's software made it possible to illegally reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from its Diesel engines, this acts directly on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, on gasoline units such as Diesel.
The level of CO2 emissions is a parameter of great importance given that it impacts the value of a vehicle in Europe through ecological bonus-malus scales.
Audi scandal: Volkswagen investigation extended
At the same time as this Audi affair, the German courts have just launched a new offensive against the Volkswagen group. She accuses him of having deliberately warned her too late of the consequences of revealing the scandal.
This would constitute a breach by the Wolfsburg giant in its obligations to inform investors about the colossal financial risks relating to the "Dieselgate". Indeed, the Volkswagen group had known since 2014 that it was the target of an investigation by the American authorities but did not recognize the veracity of the fraud until September 22, 2015, three days after the outbreak of the scandal.
Investors are claiming the trifle of 8.2 billion euros from Volkswagen in connection with the scandal, which the Wolfsburg group estimates will cost it a total of 18 billion euros.