Dieselgate – California rejects VW’s diesel fix plan

While Volkswagen may have attained an approval for its EA189 four-cylinder TDI engines in Germany, its plan for a fix in the US has not met the same fate, as more ‘dieselgate‘ drama for Volkswagen in the US ensues.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has rejected Volkswagen’s plan to fix its 2.0 litre TDI cars equipped with defeat devices, Reuters reports. According to the board, the proposed fix was declared as “incomplete, substantially deficient and falls far short of meeting the legal requirements.” To add to that, the board also said that the implementation of the proposal was not soon enough.

It detailed that the proposed plans “contain gaps” and “lack sufficient details.” Secondly, it stated that the descriptions of the proposed repairs “lack enough information for a technical evaluation.” Lastly, the proposal does not “adequately address overall impacts on vehicle performance, emissions and safety,” CARB said through a statement.

The rejection, however, extends only to the automaker’s 2.0 litre diesel mills. The submission of the recall plan for 3.0 litre TDI V6 units are only due to the board on February 2. This covers a total of 80,000 vehicles not just from Volkswagen, but from Porsche and Audi as well.

A confidential letter was sent to Volkswagen by the board, in which a detailed explanation was provided as to why the proposed solution or fix doesn’t work. Following this, investigations and talks with Volkswagen are set to continue, the board disclosed.

To add to the headache, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also in agreement with CARB’s rejection, it said in a statement. “That Volkswagen has not submitted an approvable recall plan to bring the vehicles into compliance and reduce pollution. EPA has conveyed this to the company previously,” it noted.

In a statement by the automaker, it notes that is still in talks to find a solution. The rejection, the brand says, addresses the initial recall plans submitted to the state, back in December last year. Volkswagen officials are hopeful that an approval will be attained to fix the vehicles. Recently, Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller proposed for a redesigned catalytic converter as one of the proposals to rectify the issue.

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Learn more: Volkswagen Dieselgate