Fiat Chrysler sued for rigging emissions

FCA has been accused of manipulating emissions in 104,000 vehicles sold between 2014 and 2016 in the US.

It seems Volkswagen is not the only firm which has been involved in manipulating emissions results of its vehicles. As per the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Fiat Chrysler Automotive (FCA) has been found tampering emission data of over 104,000 diesel cars sold in the US. In its report, the USEPA has accused FCA of using a “defeat device” or software similar to the one used in Volkswagen for rigging emission tests.

In its complaint against FCA, USEPA said that the Italian-American firm has equipped 104,000 units of the Dodge Ram and Jeep Grand Cherokee, sold between 2014 and 2016, with at least eight software-based features that weren’t disclosed in FCA’s applications for certificates of conformity. All the affected models are powered by a 3.0-litre EcoDiesel engine.

Further, the “undisclosed” software allegedly lessens the effectiveness of the vehicles’ emissions control systems during normal driving situations. This means these cars meet emission standards in the laboratory and during standard EPA testing, but during normal on-road driving, they emit higher NOx than allowed. If Fiat is found guilty, the firm might have to shell out up to $45,000 for each car that’s been affected.

FCA, however, reiterated claiming that it’s disappointed by EPA's accusations and that the company intends to defend its case vigorously since it wasn’t deliberately involved in installing the so-called defeat device to cheat pollution tests.

Although FCA has denied of purposely manipulating the emission results, the company says that it’s working on a new software that will fix the problem. The new software needs to be approved by the authorities though. Once that’s done, the firm will update the software in faulty cars so as to fix the emission issues.

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