An academic study from two universities accuses parts supplier giant Bosch of creating the defeat device software that Volkswagen and Fiat subsequently used to cheat emissions tests.
The study, entitled "How They Did It: An Analysis of Emission Defeat Devices in Modern Automobiles", was conducted by academics from Germany's Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the University of California, was part-supported by the European Research Council. The implications were published by Bloomberg.
Two modes were found to be used to cheat emissions tests, ‘real driving’ and ‘homologation’, with the latter designed to recognise when the car was under test conditions, and the former to be used by the car’s intended customers.
Affected engines are fitted with Bosch’s EDC17 ECU, which the study says was programmed with the defeat software.
“Notably, we find strong evidence that both defeat devices were created by Bosch and then enabled by Volkswagen and Fiat for their respective vehicles,” the report says, although only the Fiat 500X SUV is implicated.
Similar allegations were made against Bosch last year, when a lawsuit filed by representatives of affected vehicles in the US accused the supply giant of being a “knowing and active participant” in the emissions manipulation. Bosch responded by saying that it is not responsible for how a manufacturer uses its components.
A Bosch spokesman said: "As a matter of policy, and due to the sensitive legal nature of these matters, Bosch will not comment further concerning matters under investigation and in litigation."
Autocar is awaiting responses from Volkswagen and Fiat.
Read more:
Volkswagen emissions scandal: one year on
When is manipulation software not a defeat device?
Nissan found guilty of using diesel emissions cheat device in South Korea
Volkswagen of America chief surprised by defeat device car fix uptake
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Fake news!
However, what we've yet to discover is how much pressure management were putting on to the engineers tasked with getting old engines to pass the new regulations. Ultimately someone decided the only way was to use the cheat software, and the question really is why they made that decision? Was a manager putting so much pressure on that they felt it was the only way to keep their job?
That's the investigation which would be the most revealing.
Chicken and the egg, though.
"An academic study from two