A German environmental group which has already accused Renault, Mercedes, BMW and Opel cars of producing too much pollution has now identified a new NOx-spewing culprit: the Fiat 500X 2.0-liter diesel.
Translating directly to “German environment help,” the Deutsche Umwelthilfe, or DUH, has just completed testing on a Fiat 500X at the University of Applied science in Bern, Switzerland. Their results claim the 500X exceeds the allowable NOx limits for Euro6 by 11 to 22 times.
DUH says it ran eight tests in total based on Europe’s NEDC drive cycle. Two of the tests, which were run with a cold engine, did okay, but the rest, run with a warm engine, showed NOx values well above allowable levels, reaching up to 1.777 mg of NOx and maxing out the DUH’s machines.
None of the tests showed a check engine light, so the cars were supposedly running as they would on normal roads. DUH national manager Juergen Resch said of the 500X’s results (translated from German):
The measured NOx emissions of the Fiat 500X provide a clear breach of the EU approval rights. In the past four months we have uncovered at Opel, Renault, BMW and Mercedes greatly increased nitrogen oxide emissions and it seems that there’s a defeat device in use. The Fiat 500X now joins an Italian-American automotive group in the circle of dirty diesel manufacturers.
The DUH is working with European regulatory agencies and the EPA to get to the bottom of the discrepancies. Reuters reached out to FCA for comment, but they declined.
So the Dieselgate saga continues.