VW Cars Will Need Both Software And Hardware Fixes To Become Compliant
According to U.S. regulators and automotive experts, about 11 million diesel-powered cars built by Volkswagen may need software modifications to bring them into compliance with emissions regulations, and some of those might also need hardware changes.
The German auto maker has admitted to developing and installing emissions control systems that were programmed to reduce emissions only while the vehicles were being tested, in order to circumvent restrictive U.S environmental regulations. The faulty systems were used on vehicles manufactured from 2009-2015, and some experts have estimated that the cost of repairing all of the defective vehicles could exceed 6 billion dollars. Volkswagen has reportedly set aside $7 billion—about $660 per car—in order to pay for the expected repairs.
Mathias Mueller, CEO for the Volkswagen Group, said late last month that the cars would likely need to be "refitted," but stopped short of describing what that might involve. Mueller is new to the position of CEO, having replaced former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who resigned in the wake of the emissions cheating controversy.
Marc Trahan, a former Volkswagen executive involved in U.S. operations, speculated that software changes alone could solve the problem, but some experts disagree.
There were 2 types of emissions systems installed on cars equipped with Volkswagen's 2.0 liter TDI engines. The older version used a nitrous oxide trap to recover nitrous oxide emissions, and was used from late 2008-2014. The newer system, introduced in 2012, relied on a more sophisticated "Selective Catalytic Reduction" system. The newer method for controlling nitrous oxide pollutants relies on the injection of liquid urea into the vehicle's exhaust stream to break down the oxides. Nitrous Oxide is one of the more dangerous pollutants contained in automotive emissions, and they are believed to cause acid rain, smog, lung cancer and other health problems.
Cars outfitted with the newer system could possibly be brought into compliance with software changes alone, although they would still probably suffer from a loss of performance and fuel economy. Additionally, the cars may have to be serviced at 5,000 mile intervals to refill the liquid urea solution, rather than the 10,000 mile interval claimed by the manufacturer. But vehicles equipped with the older "lean NOx trap" might take much longer to fix than the newer cars, according to officials from the EPA. These cars may require hardware changes for which the car was not designed.
In either case, current owners of the cars will be left with a vehicle that does not perform as expected, and may require more frequent maintenance. That could lead to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of owners directly affected by the problem.
German authorities have given Volkswagen until October 7th to come up with a plan to bring some 2.8 million affected vehicles sold in Germany into compliance.
In all, U.S. regulators have determined that 482,000 of the 11 million defective vehicles were sold in the United States. Of the 11 million cars, about 5 million were Volkswagens. Other models affected include 2.1 million Audis, 1.2 million Skoda cars, and about 1.8 million light commercial vehicles.
