Volkswagen AG to refit diesel vehicles with EA 189 EU5 engines; solution to be presented by end of October
29 September 2015
Volkswagen AG announced that it will retrofit the some 11 million vehicles equipped with the 2.0-liter EA 189 Euro 5 diesel tainted by the software emissions defeat device. (Earlier post.) New vehicles with EU6 engines currently available are not affected by the cheat, Volkswagen said.
The scope of the retrofit is not yet clear—e.g., software only, or software and new hardware—but Volkswagen and the other Group brands whose vehicles are affected will present the technical solutions and measures to the responsible authorities in October.
As a first step, Volkswagen will inform the customers affected that the emissions characteristics of their vehicles will be corrected in the near future. All vehicles are technically safe and roadworthy, although non-compliant with emissions standards.
Customers with these vehicles will be kept informed over the coming weeks and months. All of the Group brands affected will set up national websites to update customers on developments.
An internal Volkswagen evaluation established that a service procedure will be required for some five million vehicles from the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand out of a total eleven million Group vehicles worldwide. These vehicles from certain models and model years (such as the sixth generation Volkswagen Golf, the seventh generation Volkswagen Passat or the first generation Volkswagen Tiguan) are fitted with Type EA 189 diesel engines.
Other Volkswagen Group brands affected include Audi (2.1 million vehicles worldwide) and Škoda (1.2 million worldwide).
Since the cars are capable of meeting the certification conditions when the software is set for them, it's obvious that the retrofit will be software-only.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 29 September 2015 at 10:09 AM
But will performance be the same after the defeat device is deleted?
Posted by: Brent Jatko | 29 September 2015 at 11:21 AM
Performance will not be the same unless there are offsetting HW changes. The SW will downgrade boost, increase EGR and I believe require more fuel for the NOx trap regeneratation.
Posted by: Dr. Strange Love | 29 September 2015 at 11:40 AM
My guess is they'll triple the AdBlue (Urea solution for reducing NOx) consumption from what they're using now. So it will be 1 liter for 333km instead of 1000km.
At $3 per liter that goes from 0.3 cents per mile to 0.9 cents per mile, a $72 per year hit for a 12,000 mile per year driver, paid for by Volkswagen.
I'm not sure if if extensive boost/EGR changes will be needed in that scenario.
Posted by: NewtonPulsifer | 29 September 2015 at 12:25 PM
Apparently the cars affected do not use SCR so, if the solution come with only a software update, probably the major problems for owners will be the increase of consumptions.
Posted by: Filipe Gonçalves | 29 September 2015 at 12:56 PM
Filipe, VW TDIs both with and without SCR were found to vastly exceed USA regulated NOx emissions levels on the road while on the dyno they failed.
Posted by: Dave R | 29 September 2015 at 06:01 PM
test
Posted by: Davemart | 30 September 2015 at 12:11 AM
@EP, they already tried a software fix at the last recall on the insistence of the EPA, it didn't work, hence this great debacle. The rolling road map itself probably gives unacceptable real world driveability/economy.
Posted by: clett | 30 September 2015 at 12:29 AM
If they do a s/w fix and it reduces the power and increases fuel consumption, you can be sure that a grey industry will spring up to set the car back to or near to it's original programming.
If they triple the urea consumption, they'll have to increase the Urea tank size or the drivers will become very unhappy.
Posted by: mahonj | 30 September 2015 at 02:17 AM
From what I have read for US 2L Diesel models, only the 2013+ Passats are equiped with UREA.
The predominate setup for 2009+ is basic.
I rememeber VW in their "Smack Talk" back in 2007/2008 saying how their NOx trap would do the job without UREA/SCR.
They fooled us for a while. Now they are the Fools.
### Pure Stupidity ###
Posted by: Dr. Strange Love | 30 September 2015 at 04:16 AM
Ah, I see. I didn't realize so few models had urea injection.
Yeah, I don't see a clear way forward with VW in that case for USA emissions.
They'll need to retrofit in an SCR solution to pass. That or put an entirely new engine in. I don't see software tweaks cutting it.
Perhaps regulators may let them spend a handful of billions on fixed power plant NOx reduction upgrades if that turns out to be significantly cheaper than fixing the cars.
Posted by: NewtonPulsifer | 30 September 2015 at 09:30 AM
VW is in a world of hurt. I've seen no one suggest a real fix (new engines are unlikely to happen).
Their solution might be a cash rebate to owners to make up for poorer fuel mileage and a buyback program for those who won't accept the cash. Buy at used car prices and sell into a market with lower/no emission standards.
And that just takes care of unhappy customers. Dangling parts are likely be put in clamps by governments who go after fraud and other issues.
Posted by: Bob Wallace | 30 September 2015 at 11:02 AM
Bob. World of hurt sums it up. A real Rocky Horror Picture Show. Management is praying that this will play out nicely. It won't.
Posted by: Dr. Strange Love | 30 September 2015 at 12:25 PM
@Bob Wallace
TDIs are supposed to replace the timing belt at about 110,000 miles; that labor is synergistic with an engine rebuilt/refurbished for lower emissions (timing belt is about half the cost of an engine swap). I wouldn't be surprised if we see rebuilt engines as being part of a recall, at least for higher mileage TDIs.
Posted by: NewtonPulsifer | 30 September 2015 at 03:17 PM