“How is Volkswagen going to fix this?” Since the Dieselgate emissions scandal broke in September, that’s been the number one question on the minds of VW owners, regulators, industry watchers and pretty much everyone else. According to a German newspaper, the fix in the United States is a new catalytic converter.
While Volkswagen has not officially announced its proposed plans for a diesel emissions fix yet, this information comes from German daily Bild am Sonntag, as reported by Reuters. This fix is specifically for older TDI Volkswagens, the ones equipped with the EA 189 engine, which were used from 2009 to 2014.
What’s not clear yet is how this new catalytic converter world work differently, or how it would affect power, emissions or fuel economy. Presumably it would be installed on a wide recall of the cars, which seems to conflict with earlier reports that VW was likely to simply buy back the cheating cars.
What’s also not known is how the newer TDI models with the EA 288 engine, including those on all the TDI models sitting on lots that VW can’t sell at the moment, would be fixed as well.
This new catalytic converter would need to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Earlier reports indicate VW and the EPA have clashed on how exactly to fix the cars.
More on this as we get it. Meanwhile, Reuters also reports VW is less likely to face fines in Europe as stiff as the ones it will likely face in the U.S., which is not even remotely surprising.
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