The Local reports Audi halts production of latest A6 model over ‘new emissions cheating’.
Confirming a report in news weekly Der Spiegel, Germany’s transport ministry told AFP it was investigating the use of a new “illegal defeat device” in some 60,000 Audi cars, half of which are driving on German roads.
According to Spiegel, the current A6 model is equipped with software that deliberately slows down the use of a special pollution-cleaning fluid in the final 2,400 kilometres of its life span, to avoid drivers having to refill the so-called AdBlue liquid in between regular service updates.
But reducing the AdBlue function also drastically lowers its effectiveness in neutralizing the engine’s harmful nitrogen oxides, making the diesel cars far more polluting during that time.
Germany’s transport ministry said its KBA vehicles licensing had opened a probe into suspicions that Audi equipped some 60,000 “A6/A7 models” with a cheating device, “around 33,000 of them in Germany”.
The alleged AdBlue scam differs from the one that sparked Volkswagen’s “dieselgate” crisis in 2015, when the auto giant admitted to installing software in some 11 million diesels worldwide that could detect when a vehicle was undergoing pollution tests and reduce emissions accordingly.
Eurointelligence Comments
It looks like VW’s response to being found out using software to cheat on emissions has been to upgrade the software so it becomes harder to detect. [Mish note: Audi is owned by VW].
Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority yesterday announced that it is investigating Audi for fitting its vehicles with another type of a software cheating system, different from the one used by VW. FAZ writes that, if these suspicions prove correct, there will have to be a financially disastrous recall of 33,000 cars in Germany and 60,000 in the rest of the world.
When they [VW] got found out, the car companies simply removed one of five cheating devices, and continued to use the rest.
Clean Diesel – Honest
Last month, German engine maker Bosh announced a new “clean” diesel engine.
My response: Sorry Germany, Diesel is Dead.
Even if the claim was true, no one in their right mind would believe it. Besides, the world is headed electric.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
50MPG to 70MPG sounds unrealistically high for what I am familiar with. Are you using US gallons or Imperial gallons? Some actual make & model information would be helpful.
Efficiency
I have a compliant 5 (convertible to 7) seater at average 50-51 mpg, on a run can be 54-
55mpg. Heavy city driving with eco-stop/start about 43-48 mpg.
In my experience – yes – and smaller cars can be closer to 70mpg.
They can be impressive mpg, long service interval, and cheap to se
@ZZR600 — Does the 50+ MPG apply to a vehicle with totally compliant emissions?
In Europe/UK, diesel is readily available. You can get 50+MPG from a turbo diesel compared to 35+MPG for a similar size/power petrol. Also, diesels have more low-end torque so can be quite nice to drive.
I used to understand the appeal of diesel cars. At one time they were less expensive to operate, more reliable, and had a longer driving range. The introduction of ultra-low sulfur fuel and complex emission systems changed that. The only attraction I can see today is that a small turbo diesel can still pack a wallop when it comes to low end torque, but one pays a lot for that. In the long run diesel cars probably are dead.
An auto enthusiast told me that the fluid Germans inject into their diesel engines to reduce certain gas emissions is urea — piss, to the likes of me. It sounds like a marketing triumph to call it AdBlue rather than Concentrated Urine. Maybe next the Germans will relabel public toilets as AdBlue Collection Facilities?
I never understood the appeal of getting a diesel car. The gas is relatively hard to find and they stink. Maybe you can save a little at the gas pump, but not nearly enough to make it worthwhile. I understand the need in a large 18 wheeler or dump truck, but a family car never made sense to me.
I am proud to be an equal party basher, more specifically platform-based. I care about policies not parties. Sometimes I praise Trump, sometimes not. Other people attack Trump no matter what he does.
He also imagines there was something illegal about the consensual sex Trump had many years ago. I feel sorry for the Trump haters with their fantasies, but it seems they are victims of the fake news MSM propaganda. I’ll bet he has never even heard of the $80 million of illegal Hillary contributions that are right now being investigated.
Good Lord. Audi admitted Cheating and will recall cars. You deny it. Amazing
Anyway, who are we (U.S.) to Complain. We have a reality t.v. Show host running our country into the ground and the only way we see fit to get him out of Office is through the legal actions of a porn star!!!
German engineering. It has always been great. If they want to sell cars and find clever ways to circumvent the “Polizei” well what can one say.: German engineering has always been very cutting edge, ingenious and always looking to solve the “problem”. Guess they are just redefining what the problem is!!! LOL.
Let me guess the last 2400 is only like 10% of the life of fluid and it’s a convenience thing more than an emmision thing because it more than meets the requirements even when this happens. There’s not enough info in this article to convey that this is in fact “cheating”.
Bullish for Tesla. Tesla FTW.
It’s hard to catch clever software especially on high end vehicles with GPS built in and possibly cloud connectivity. Detect a test condition or location is relatively easy, performance change vs mileage easy too. Bet there are many other clever tricks possible too.
If it’s not diesel it’s engine cut out that can be a much quicker killer than diesel, 300K car recall – occurring now –
link to bbc.co.uk
Electric brings its own set of challenges that will not make it into the panacea some believe it is.
The 2 quoted articles contradict each other. One says there are a total of 60,000 cars affected, the next article says 33,000 + another 60,000. Typical sloppy reporting!