A Possible New Defeat Device In Audis

The German magazine Bild Am Sontag reported that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) had discovered that unspecified Audi vehicle models were running illegal software to bring carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions within legal limits under laboratory conditions. The software, according to the magazine, also killed CO2 emissions controls while the Audis were driven under normal conditions, much like the defeat device scandal involving VW, Audi, and Porsche vehicles that was exposed last September.

This illegal software was apparently found in both gas and diesel Audi models produced up until May 2016. Neither Audi nor CARB has confirmed the reports.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), however, spoke to anonymous sources that seemed to confirm the German magazine’s claims.

Reports surfaced last November that some 800,000 Volkswagen vehicles in Europe may have been running with falsified CO2 data. Those were said to include VW, Audi, Seat, and Skoda vehicles, most of which were diesels. This new information concerns Audis in the U.S., and it includes gas vehicles as well. According to the WSJ, "CARB technicians conducting lab tests on Audi’s vehicles made them react as if on a road by turning the steering wheel...When the cars deviated from lab conditions, their CO2 emissions rose dramatically."

In a separate report, Reuters reported that CARB had made its discovery earlier this year.

NAFA Fleet Management Association
http://www.nafa.org/