German Authority Test Results Indicate Fiat-Chrysler Used Defeat Devices In Its Diesel Vehicles As Well

The German Ministry of Transport has sent a letter to European Union authorities detailing the results of recent tests by the German Federal Agency for Automobiles (KBA) that indicate Fiat-Chrysler used defeat devices in some of its diesel vehicles.

The tests reportedly show that the vehicles in question (Fiat 500x, Jeep Renegade, Fiat Doblo) feature a software-controlled system that shuts down the emissions-control systems around 22 minutes after the diesel vehicles are turned on. In the current European test procedure, standard emissions tests run 20 minutes.

So, the systems that the KBA claim to have uncovered seem to have been designed solely to cheat the emissions tests.

Following this 22 minute time period, and the disabling of the emissions-control systems, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions rose to more than 9–15 times the legal limit, according to the KBA.

Here’s more (as translated by an online translation program): “Already in May, the Ministry of Transport had discovered irregularities in the Italian-American manufacturer, as part of the inquiry on emissions established after the revelation of cheating the German manufacturer Volkswagen, who confessed in last September have installed over 11 million vehicles a faker software capable of lowering the emissions of the diesel engine during a pollution control.”

In the new letter, the German Ministry of Transport “requests the European Commission to ‘conduct appropriate consultations with the Italian authorities to find a solution,’ while the same authorities, contacted by Germany, have denied the problem, arguing that the system setup was used to protect the engine.”

Must be something in the air lately. First Volkswagen, then Mitsubishi, now Fiat-Chrysler. I wonder who will be next?

Tip of the hat to reader Eric Lukac-kuruc for the story.

Image by Janitors via Foter.com / CC BY