The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA in the United States has accused Volkswagen and Audi of using an illegal software or a 'defeat device' as they officially have termed it on approximately 4.82 lakh vehicles for cheating durin their official emissions tests. The EPA states that the software could automatically detect when the cars were undergoing an emissions test and change the way the engine behaved automatically.
The software in question has been used on the likes of the new Volkswagen Beetle, the Volkswagen Golf, the Volkswagen Jetta and the Audi A3 for the 2009-2015 model years. The device has also been used on the 2014-2015 model year Volkswagen Passat which is one of the largest sold cars in the United States. As mentioned earlier the EPA stated that the device could automatically sense when the car was undergoing an emissions test and automatically kick in every single emissions control measure that it had. Post the test, the car went back into normal driving mode for day to day usage patterns.
According to the EPA, the software allowed all the above mentioned Volkswagen and Audi models to fully comply with the emissions standards during lab testing, but in real-word driving the NOX emissions are up to 40 times above the allowable levels. Under the current federal law, EPA can apply a maximum fine of $37,500 per car, which means Volkswagen and Audi could face a total fine of up to $18 billion.
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