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EPA upping its game amid Volkswagen probe

In the wake of the Volkswagen emissions-cheating scandal, the Environmental Protection Agency vowed to crack down on the auto industry with renewed vigor. That process has started. Janet McCabe, the agency's assistant administrator, said Tuesday that the EPA has already obtained a range of vehicles for testing purposes and that its enforcement staff is working as quickly as possible to determine whether other automakers are gaming emission results. "That's another detail we'd rather be obscure about, so that we can make sure people don't know what we're doing." For now, she said the agency is focused on diesel vehicles. But the scope of the new examinations could broaden to include gasoline-powered cars. The renewed efforts could include more light-duty vehicles or focus on heavy-duty trucks. The testing procedures could use dynamometers or portable emissions equipment. Right now, pretty much everything is a possibility. "We're going to become unpredictable, we're upping our game and we're going to use the whole range of technology that we have," she said. That technology now includes a heavy-duty truck chassis dynamometer at the EPA's national Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, MI. Officials unveiled the $3 million piece of equipment Tuesday and hailed it as the first of its kind in North America. A Freightliner Super Truck, which boosted its fuel efficiency to 12 miles per gallon with the help of a $40 million federal grant, rolled onto the dynamometer in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday. McCabe said the new dynamometer will allow the EPA to assess the performance of the entire truck – not just its engine – and help engineers test 18-wheel tractor trailers measure, hydrocarbons, greenhouse gases, carbon monoxide and more. In the past, it took about a week for engineers to remove an engine from a truck and prep it for testing. With the new equipment, drivers can open a garage door and drive the rigs straight onto the dynamometer. A wealth of new, real-time data will be helpful as the EPA works with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in planning for the second phase of the government's greenhouse gas emission and fuel-efficiency standards for medium and heavy-duty engines and vehicles – a process now underway. While there's been a crush of attention on Volkswagen's scheming to circumvent emissions test, in the real world, it's these medium and heavy-duty trucks that are the bigger polluters.

Angry diesel owners joining lawsuits against Volkswagen [w/video]

Livid at the prospect of losing thousands of dollars from the value of their cars and performance from their diesel engines, many owners of Volkswagens are headed to court. A law firm with a track record of suing automakers has already filed three class-action lawsuits against the German automaker related to its emissions-cheating scandal and says a fourth one is on the way. The lawsuits, filed by national firm Hagens Berman, accuse Volkswagen Group of America of fraudulent concealment, false advertising, and violations of federal and state laws. Plaintiffs in all 50 states have joined the class-action suits, according to the firm. A spokesperson says there has been "an unprecedented response" since the first lawsuit was filed within hours of an announcement from federal regulators last Friday. The lawsuits accuse Volkswagen Group of America of fraudulent concealment, false advertising, and violations of federal and state laws. Diesel owners paid thousands more for their vehicles instead of their gasoline-powered counterparts because Volkswagen's diesel engines ostensibly offered both torque and fuel economy. Now affected car owners are faced with a double-whammy – the value of their cars has diminished with the news and the purported software fix that brings the cars in emissions compliance will likely lower their performance and gas mileage. "Hundreds of thousands of consumers put their trust in VW when they looked to its 'Clean Diesel' line for an efficient, environmentally conscious diesel option," said Steve Berman, managing partner. "But for years, VW cheated the system. Its TDI line of fast but 'good-for-the-environment' cars seemed too good to be true, and they were." In its latest court filing, Hagens Berman lawyers said that car owners believed their vehicles were in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards and that the cars would retain their operating characteristics throughout their useful lives. Another firm, Girard Gibbs, has also filed a lawsuit over the diesel deception. "These Volkswagen vehicles should never have been sold, and certainly should not have spent the past six years on American roads polluting our air," said Eric Gibbs, the lead attorney. "Not only does this kind of fraud harm consumers and the environment, it negatively impacts competition, which is what drives our free-market system.

Audi A3 diesel fails independent emissions test in Europe

The best-selling model under Volkswagen's Audi division was emitted about double the legal limits of nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels for Europe, Reuters says, citing laboratory tests overseen by the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC) in August. The Audi A3 was found in two tests to emit about double the legal limit of NOx, though one of the tests had the A3 within the limits when the engine was cold. An Audi spokesman told Reuters that the A3 was independently tested to have emissions levels within the legal limit and that he wasn't aware of the JRC test results. Still, the findings are another example of how Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker, can not seem to shed the issues surrounding the diesel-emissions scandal that broke last September. VW has been fined about $19 billion for equipping diesel cars with software that cheats emissions-testing systems. About 11 million cars were affected, including about a half-million vehicles in the US. In addition reaching a $15 billion settlement with US regulatory bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) earlier this year, VW has been fined $15 million by the South Korean government, which may impose more penalties because of allegations of false advertising. Audi is not the only VW unit to face further scrutiny. Germany's Transport Ministry and Federal Motor Transport Authority are taking a closer look at VW's Porsche division for potential emissions-cheating efforts, Bloomberg News recently reported. Additionally, the European Union is saying that at least seven of its member nations failed to provide sufficient oversight of automobiles' emissions-testing process, and may take legal action against Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Greece, and Great Britain, according to a separate Reuters article. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Audi A3 View 125 Photos News Source: Reuters via Automotive News Europe-sub.req. Government/Legal Green Audi Volkswagen AutoblogGreen Exclusive Emissions Diesel Vehicles testing