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Audi Takes Responsibility for V6 TDI, Will Submit New Emission Control Devices to EPA

Update: Agence France-Presse says the recall will cost €50 million, although it could be just a guess based on Audi's statements. After confirming that several tens of thousands of cars sold in the US with 3.0-liter TDI diesel engines have defeat devices, Volkswagen is now working on submitting the "cure" to the authorities. More specifically, Audi has taken full responsibility for the problem and says it will come up with new auxiliary emission control devices (AECD) for the U.S. version of the V6 TDI.
Audi Takes Responsibility for V6 TDI, Will Submit New Emissions Control Devices to EPA 1 photo
Photo: Audi
That is the result of the discussions held between a delegation from AUDI AG, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Details are not made fully clear, but we have a few interesting facts.

For example, Audi has confirmed that there are three AECDs that were not declared to U.S. authorities. Specifically, there's one for the temperature conditioning of the exhaust gas cleaning system, another for the avoidance of deposits on the Ad-Blue metering valve and of HC poisoning of the SCR catalyst with unburned hydrocarbons.

Only the first one is viewed as a "defeat device." The illegal software is different from the one installed on the 482,000 cars equipped with 2.0 TDI engines sold by Volkswagen.

The other interesting bit of information is that Audi has made it very clear that it is responsible for this part of the Dieselgate scandal, not Volkswagen Passenger Cars. It's been fitted to US models of the A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7 from model year 2009 onwards. Volkswagen uses the engine in the Touareg, and Porsche has started offering it in the Cayenne since model year 2013.

For the record, all the SUVs fitted with the 3.0 TDI are made at Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Slovakia.

Let's just make it clear that the fix isn't ready yet. Audi was hit with a notice of violation by the EPA on November 2. While the company will try to conduct a recall that's cheap and simple, it admits that it will cost "in the mid-double-digit millions of euros."

Not only must it address the environment violation but also be safe, reliable and drivable. That's not easy for a complex diesel engine fitted to vehicles that usually weigh two tons.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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