Dieselgate: Fix harder than it seems
It’s a lot more than three recall solutions, VW boss Müller admitsVolkswagen is racing against time to deliver thousands of different recall solutions to its Dieselgate emissions-cheating crisis.
Freshly installed CEO Matthias Müller has admitted that the complexities of operating in more than 100 markets around the world with three engine capacities and six transmissions has made fixing the troubled EA189 motors far harder than a simple software reflash.
“Volkswagen requires not just three solutions, but rather thousands,” Müller said.
That hasn’t stopped Volkswagen from insisting it will recall the first of the 11 million affected cars from January next year and hopes to have the cleanup work finished by the end of 2016. Yet even this wasn’t voluntary, with Volkswagen being forced into delivering an enforceable timetable by the German Transport Department’s October 6 deadline.
While the cheat code, which switched the EA189 diesel motors into their cleanest settings only when it surmised it was being tested in a laboratory, is not difficult to remove, it’s buried deep inside the Bosch EDC 16 engine management software. Removing it could work for some models to help them meet NOx emissions legislation around the world, but other models will need additional software work as well.
Volkswagen sources have added detail to Müller’s complexity claims, saying that besides being fitted to cars from Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen across the years from 2009 to 2013, the affected engines came in three different capacities with three different manual gearboxes and three different dual-clutch transmissions. The engines were also sold with a wide range of power and torque outputs and the cars were usually updated at least once a year.
“The only Volkswagen Group engines that showed a significant difference between on-road and laboratory testing were the EA189 code engines,” a spokesman said yesterday (Friday).
“One of the areas being investigated internally is if the ‘defeat’ code software works on this and how it works on this.
“We are working through these issues as quickly as we can, but bear in mind we have to validate and check and recheck everything to avoid any deviations.
“That’s why there is not yet a definitive solution to how the recalls will be implemented and what we need to do for each car.”
Volkswagen (or some level of management at Volkswagen) introduced the “defeat” code on the EA189 when it became clear that the motors would not meet the US emissions laws, which dropped 90 per cent to 70 milligrams of NOx/km in 2009. The EU5 laws (and, therefore, the Australian Design Rules) at the time had a limit of 180mg/km.
Dieselgate related reading:
Huge recall planned, other brands hit
Audis affected top two million
ACCC issues statement on VW emissions saga
Müller locked in as Volkswagen CEO
BMW forced to deny emissions rigging
Volkswagen boss Winterkorn to go as crisis spreads
Dieselgate worsens, 11m vehicles could be affected
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