Volkswagen Used 'Defeat Device' To Skirt Emissions Rules, EPA Says

By Bill Chappell / NPR

Published September 18, 2015 at 6:53 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

Volkswagen Jetta models — like this TDI from 2011 labeled "clean diesel" were found to have software that cheated official emissions tests, the EPA says. More than 480,000 cars are affected.

Saying Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency says the company's diesel-powered cars have sophisticated software that detects emissions testing – and "turns full emissions controls on only during the test."

Installed on four-cylinder cars, the software, which the EPA calls a "defeat device" that's meant to trick official tests, allowed diesel Jettas, Beetles, and other cars to "emit up to 40 times more pollution" than allowed under U.S. emission standards.

The agency says that after the carmaker was confronted with emission test results this month, it admitted that the cars contain defeat devices.

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Volkswagen must now fix the cars' emissions control systems, the agency says, adding that Volkswagen could be liable for civil penalties and other punishment. The cars in question are popular Volkswagen and Audi models that were made from 2009 to this year.

The affected diesel cars include:

• Jetta (Model Years 2009 – 2015) • Beetle (Model Years 2009 – 2015) • Audi A3 (Model Years 2009 – 2015) • Golf (Model Years 2009 – 2015) • Passat (Model Years 2014-2015)

"Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.