US: Volkswagen Has Cheated Again on Vehicle Emissions Testing

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that the German company Volkswagen has cheated for the second time regarding emissions tests for its vehicles, this time focusing on high-displacement cars. According to reports, the agency has informed Volkswagen that it has expanded its investigation to include Porsche, Audi, and six-cylinder diesel vehicles with a three-liter engine manufactured by the company from 2014 to 2016. Cynthia Giles, a responsible official at the agency, said: "Volkswagen has once again failed in its duties to comply with the law that protects clean air for all Americans." In September, Volkswagen admitted to installing software known as defeat devices in 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide to pass emissions tests without showing faults. Volkswagen previously stated that evasion of emissions tests applied to four-cylinder vehicles but remained silent about high-displacement vehicles. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that the software installed in Volkswagen vehicles caused the cars to perform differently during emissions testing compared to when they were on the road. According to the agency, the operation of this software resulted in nitrogen oxide levels being reported as up to nine times lower during emissions testing. The recent deception by Volkswagen involves 10,000 vehicles, including 2014 Touareg models, Porsche Cayenne, and 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, Quattro A7, A8, and Q5 models. In the previous discovery of Volkswagen's deception, 500,000 vehicles in the U.S. were included in the Environmental Protection Agency's warnings. Volkswagen faces a fine of $37,500 per vehicle, which means an additional $375 million will be added to the company's other multi-billion dollar penalties.