In the wake its emissions cheating scandal, German car maker Volkswagen (VW) plans a complete makeover of its diesel technology.
According to VW brand chief Herbert Diess, the new versions of its high-mileage engines should go into production "as soon as possible".
The maker's current 2.0-liter diesel was surreptitiously programmed to produce low levels of smog-causing nitrogen oxides (NOx) during emissions tests, but in a trade-off apparently meant to improve performance and mileage, those TDI engines were allowed to produce significantly higher levels of pollutants in real-world use.
This led to the company being accused by the US and European regulatory authorities of cheating the emission norms with the use of the software.
The company had reported that there were more than 11 million cars and other vehicles that it had produced that had the so-called "defeat device" technology and were sold worldwide over the past seven years, including 482,000 in the U.S.
Diesis confirmed that the company would embark upon a strategy to cut about $1.1 billion in annual investment spending, even as VW moves ahead on developing a new version of its small EA 189 diesel engine.
The German car maker has so far set aside $7.3 billion to cover the cost of the scandal. However analysts and experts are of the view that the amount set away by the company would be far too low.
The company accounts for about half the maker's sales in Europe and a quarter of its volume in the U.S. and it is also one of the world's largest producers of diesel engines. However since the stringent environment regulations began getting stronger by the US and European regulatory agencies, the company has struggled to meet the standards.
VW, at one point, was prepared to license the BlueTec diesel technology developed by rival Daimler AG, but reversed course, coming up with its own turbo-direct-injection (TDI) system.
The engines offered unbelievable combination of good performance, great mileage and extremely low emissions ever since the engine was launched seven years ago.
The 2.0-liter EA 189 engine could do that without the use of urea, an ammonia-like additive used to break down oxides of nitrogen into harmless components and this was one of the striking features of the engine to experts and analysts.
However it was revealed in regulatory investigations in the US that the diesel engine was actually unable to meet the emission standards and had to use a hidden software that had the ability to detect when one of the vehicles was undergoing emissions tests, temporarily reducing power to improve the performance of its pollution control system.
There are plans by the company to start retrofitting of the EA 189 diesel starting in January next year. However this could be a tough task for the company in the US where it might require the addition of new hardware, as well as updated software.
While there were reports that the new diesel engine system that the company was thinking to develop would hold down emissions while maintaining power and mileage through the use of a urea and water injection system, there was not much clarification from the company about how much different the new diesel engines will be.
(Source:www.nbcnews.com)
According to VW brand chief Herbert Diess, the new versions of its high-mileage engines should go into production "as soon as possible".
The maker's current 2.0-liter diesel was surreptitiously programmed to produce low levels of smog-causing nitrogen oxides (NOx) during emissions tests, but in a trade-off apparently meant to improve performance and mileage, those TDI engines were allowed to produce significantly higher levels of pollutants in real-world use.
This led to the company being accused by the US and European regulatory authorities of cheating the emission norms with the use of the software.
The company had reported that there were more than 11 million cars and other vehicles that it had produced that had the so-called "defeat device" technology and were sold worldwide over the past seven years, including 482,000 in the U.S.
Diesis confirmed that the company would embark upon a strategy to cut about $1.1 billion in annual investment spending, even as VW moves ahead on developing a new version of its small EA 189 diesel engine.
The German car maker has so far set aside $7.3 billion to cover the cost of the scandal. However analysts and experts are of the view that the amount set away by the company would be far too low.
The company accounts for about half the maker's sales in Europe and a quarter of its volume in the U.S. and it is also one of the world's largest producers of diesel engines. However since the stringent environment regulations began getting stronger by the US and European regulatory agencies, the company has struggled to meet the standards.
VW, at one point, was prepared to license the BlueTec diesel technology developed by rival Daimler AG, but reversed course, coming up with its own turbo-direct-injection (TDI) system.
The engines offered unbelievable combination of good performance, great mileage and extremely low emissions ever since the engine was launched seven years ago.
The 2.0-liter EA 189 engine could do that without the use of urea, an ammonia-like additive used to break down oxides of nitrogen into harmless components and this was one of the striking features of the engine to experts and analysts.
However it was revealed in regulatory investigations in the US that the diesel engine was actually unable to meet the emission standards and had to use a hidden software that had the ability to detect when one of the vehicles was undergoing emissions tests, temporarily reducing power to improve the performance of its pollution control system.
There are plans by the company to start retrofitting of the EA 189 diesel starting in January next year. However this could be a tough task for the company in the US where it might require the addition of new hardware, as well as updated software.
While there were reports that the new diesel engine system that the company was thinking to develop would hold down emissions while maintaining power and mileage through the use of a urea and water injection system, there was not much clarification from the company about how much different the new diesel engines will be.
(Source:www.nbcnews.com)
