Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

VW gets approval to modify 38,000 diesel SUVs as 'Dieselgate' continues

By

2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
Image used with permission by copyright holder
It may no longer dominate the headlines, but Volkswagen is still cleaning up the mess from the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal. The company just received approval from U.S. regulators to modify about 38,000 diesel SUVs equipped with 3.0-liter V6 engines so that they no longer produce illegal levels of emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board sent a letter to VW Friday, October 20, approving the modifications, reports Reuters. The fix applies to diesel versions of the Volkswagen Touareg, Audi Q7, and Porsche Cayenne SUVs from model years 2013 to 2016, all of which are equipped with the second-generation version of VW’s 3.0-liter TDI V6 engine. Older models are not included.

Recommended Videos

The Reuters report said some models will require only a software update, while others will require both hardware and software changes. But neither VW nor the regulators have specified what those hardware changes might be.

Under a settlement approved in May, Volkswagen agreed to buy back any 3.0-liter diesel vehicles it could not modify to meet emissions standards. About 75,000 vehicles are covered by the settlement, meaning VW could save money by not having to buy back the 38,000 that qualify for modifications.  The automaker has already agreed to spend $25 billion on the diesel scandal in the U.S. so far.

The fate of older models equipped with the first-generation 3.0-liter TDI V6 remains unclear. If VW can’t devise suitable modifications for these vehicles, which span model years 2010 to 2012, it will have to buy them back from owners. Affected models include diesel versions of the Audi A6, A7, A8, and Q5, as well as older versions of the Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg diesels.

The 3.0-liter diesels represent a fairly small contingent compared to the roughly 475,000 cheater diesels equipped with 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines. Those models are covered under a separate settlement approved last year. For the past several months, VW has been steadily buying them back from owners and depositing them in places like the derelict Silverdome football stadium in Pontiac, Michigan.

The majority of 2.0-liter diesel owners have taken buybacks rather than wait for modifications to be approved. After two years of uncertainty, 2013-2016 3.0-liter diesel owners now have to decide whether they want to keep their cars, or walk away.

Topics
Stephen Edelstein
Stephen Edelstein
Contributing Editor
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Here’s how Lucid plans to merge into the EV mainstream
Lucid midsize SUV preview.

Lucid has released a dark preview image of a yet-unnamed electric crossover that will be positioned in one of the most competitive segments of the EV market. The model will be positioned below the Gravity as the brand's entry-level offering, and it will cost approximately $50,000.

Posted on X (formerly Twitter), the image shows the outline of a crossover with fluid lines. It doesn't look like a copy of an existing Lucid model but the design seemingly incorporates a handful of familiar styling cues, including an upright front end and an arch-shaped piece of trim on the roof.

Read more
The best level 2 home EV chargers
ChargePoint Home EV charger plugged into car.

When you brought home your shiny new electric vehicle, it came with a home charging cord. But that was likely a Level 1 charger, which can only add 2 or 3 miles of range per hour. Upgrading to a Level 2 home EV charger can triple that speed — or more — plus provide you with a multitude of options to help lower your electricity bill and extend your car battery life.

In other words, it's now easy to keep your car topped up without ever having to drive to a DC fast charging station unless you're on a road-trip — ensuring that in day-to-day use, your car will stay fully charged, basically all the time.

Read more
The state of solid-state batteries: We may be on the cusp of an EV revolution
Factorial solid-state battery

Electric vehicles may have become a whole lot more popular over the past five years or so, but that’s despite some issues they still face regarding things like limited range and slow charging speeds. The result of these issues is that plenty of buyers are unsure about whether an EV might be for them. But there’s one technology that has been hailed as a savior for all of the EV issues related to batteries, and that’s solid-state battery tech.

This technology has been so hyped for so long that, at this point in time, it seems not only almost mythical, but as if we might never actually see it in the real world. So, what’s the state of solid-state batteries right now, and how far are we from finally seeing them and reaping their rewards? Here’s a look.
What are solid-state batteries?
What is a solid-state battery in the first place? Solid-state batteries keep the fundamentals of traditional battery design, offering an anode and a cathode with a porous separator in the middle, and a substance through which electrons flow from one side to the other. This, in turn, creates a circuit. But while a conventional battery is built with a liquid electrolyte solution on the inside, a solid-state battery instead makes the separator between the anode and the cathode the electrolyte itself.

Read more