Following the ‘dieselgate’ scandal that broke last September, the Volkswagen Group was under pressure to submit a comprehensive plan to rectify the polluting effects of its diesel engines that were found to emit far more damaging particulates into the atmosphere.
And although they took a longer time than was expected to submit, the California Air Review Board (CARB) has rejected their proposal to fix over 85,000 of the effected vehicles fitted with the 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines (sold within 2009 and 2016), which involve cars that span Audis, Porsches and, of course, those wearing the Volkswagen logo.
According to a statement released by CARB, they claim that the fix proposed by Volkswagen did not adequately detail the extent to which the defeat devices (which activate during testing) would be disabled and did not supply the corresponding diagnostics repair data to back up their procedures.
This newest settlement follows a larger-scale U.S buyback and compensation program initiated to rectify the over 450,000 cars fitted with the 2.0-litre TDi engines within American borders.
The fix for the 3.0-litre engines, however, would be a much easier fix and, if VW has its way, would not involve any buybacks. Presumably, owners would only need to bring their vehicle in to an authorised dealer to have a software patch installed.
CARB, meanwhile, are basing their decision to reject VW’s proposed fix due to lack to explanation of exactly how this simple fix would be executed and if indeed the problem would be truly solved. The said proposal still did not go into sufficient detail about the nature of the defeat devices that the VW Group used to fool emissions testing instruments nor about the depth at which the mechanisms alter engine parameters.
In a statement, CARB stated that they will: “…in conjunction with the EPA, will continue the on-going technical discussions with VW and Audi to evaluate their proposals through the enforcement action process.”
Apart from the legal action taken against Volkswagen in the United States, many other lawsuits have been levelled against the automaker and its subsidiaries including those in its home market of Germany, greater Europe as well as Asia.
It would seem that, as the one year mark approaches since the scandal broke, Volkswagen isn’t close to cleaning up the mess that it sowed the seeds for when they looked into ways to falsify emissions figures.
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