The Obama administration on Friday directed Volkswagen to recall nearly a half-million cars, saying the carmaker illegally installed software in its diesel-power cars that was intentionally designed to circumvent environmental standards for reducing smog.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued the German automaker a notice of violation and accused the company of using software known as a "defeat device" in four-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009-15. The device is programmed to detect when the car is undergoing official emissions testing. Only during such tests are the cars' full emissions control systems turned on. During normal driving situations, the controls are turned off, allowing the cars to spew as much as 40 times as much pollution as the legal standard required under the Clean Air Act, the EPA said.
"Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health," said Cynthia Giles, the EPA's assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance. "Working closely with the California Air Resources Board, EPA is committed to making sure that all automakers play by the same rules. EPA will continue to investigate these very serious violations."
She added, "We expected better from Volkswagen."
Agency officials said the car company had admitted to the use of the defeat device. A spokeswoman for Volkswagen confirmed that the company had received the notice of violation and said the automaker was cooperating with the investigation. She declined to comment further on the case.
Over the next year, EPA officials said that owners of the affected vehicles should expect to receive recall notices from the company, including information about how to get their cars repaired at no cost to them.
They cover roughly 482,000 diesel passenger cars sold in the United States since 2009.
