Dieselgate: VW group's 3.0L diesel also affected?

The soup the VW group has got itself into continues to get thicker. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California regulators have issued a citation, stating that the 3.0L diesel engine used in certain VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles (model years 2014 through 2016) have been equipped with an emission test defeat device. 

Around 10,000 vehicles are covered by the notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), specifically, the diesel versions of the 2014* VW Touareg, the 2015* Porsche Cayenne, and the 2016* Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5 (*model year - USA). Until now, it was believed that only VW's 2.0L diesel was involved in the scam.

According to the details in the NOV, when a vehicle senses that it is undergoing a federal emissions test procedure, it operates in a low NOx “temperature conditioning” mode. Under that mode, the vehicle meets emission standards. After the completion of the initial phases of the standard test procedure, the vehicle immediately changes a number of operating parameters that increase NOx emissions in the transition back to “normal mode", where emissions of NOx increase up to nine times the EPA standard, depending on the vehicle and type of driving conditions.

It is the first time that the scandal has extended to Porsche as well. However, an official statement by Volkswagen states that no such software has been used in the 3.0L V6 diesel units. Even Porsche's North American division issued a statement saying it was surprised to learn about the allegation. If the allegation holds up, the VW group will face additional penalties, over and above the approximately 18 billion dollars it’s facing in fines already.