Photo: Volkswagen
As much as the Volkswagen Group markets the ID. series of electric vehicles and performance-oriented models that include the Audi e-tron RS, some of us remember what prompted the automaker’s electric onslaught. I’m referring to Dieselgate, the worldwide emissions blunder that was made official back in September 2015 by the Environmental Protection Agency.
As a brief refresher, the Volkswagen Group utilized illegal software that detects when the vehicle is tested on a dynamometer using the FTP-75 test protocol. In this instance, the clever electronics tell the emissions system to run at 100-percent capacity, therefore giving the appearance that everything runs very clean. But on the road, in regular driving conditions, the EPA has recorded 40 times more nitrous oxides than allowed by the law.
The scandal further uncovered illegal software in the engine control units of many other automakers, therefore creating a domino effect. The automotive industry took notice fast, and pretty much everyone made a 180-degree turn, proscribing diesel mills in favor of zero-emission electric vehicles.
Be that as it may, the scandal has branched into yet another problem for the Volkswagen Group. The Court of Justice of the European Union has found “software that alters the level of pollutant gas emissions of vehicles based on the outside temperature and altitude,” which is contrary to EU law.
“Such a device cannot be justified by the protection of the engine from damage or accident and safe operation of the vehicle if its principal purpose is to protect components such as the EGR valve, EGR cooler, and the diesel particulate filter,” reads a press release from the Court of Justice.
It should be highlighted the quoted text comes from Athanasios Rantos, the advocate general, and that CJEU judges typically follow such opinions. The advocate general further notes a CJEU court ruling that deems the software illegal even if the software prevents the engine from aging or clogging up.
Given these circumstances, a new legal battle is heating up.
The scandal further uncovered illegal software in the engine control units of many other automakers, therefore creating a domino effect. The automotive industry took notice fast, and pretty much everyone made a 180-degree turn, proscribing diesel mills in favor of zero-emission electric vehicles.
Be that as it may, the scandal has branched into yet another problem for the Volkswagen Group. The Court of Justice of the European Union has found “software that alters the level of pollutant gas emissions of vehicles based on the outside temperature and altitude,” which is contrary to EU law.
“Such a device cannot be justified by the protection of the engine from damage or accident and safe operation of the vehicle if its principal purpose is to protect components such as the EGR valve, EGR cooler, and the diesel particulate filter,” reads a press release from the Court of Justice.
It should be highlighted the quoted text comes from Athanasios Rantos, the advocate general, and that CJEU judges typically follow such opinions. The advocate general further notes a CJEU court ruling that deems the software illegal even if the software prevents the engine from aging or clogging up.
Given these circumstances, a new legal battle is heating up.
#ECJ : the installation, in an vehicle, of software that alters the level of pollutant gas emissions of these vehicles based on the outside temperature and the altitude is contrary to #EUlaw #dieselgate @VW #pollution #environment
— EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) September 23, 2021
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