Under normal road use, the EA 189 vehicles, which included popular models like the Passat, Jetta, Beetle and Golf, could emit up to 40 times the allowed amount of nitrogen oxide, a pollutant linked to numerous lung ailments.
The New York Times and other media outlets are reporting that more Volkswagen cars than originally thought may be affected with the cheating emissions software. Originally, only cars and light commercial vehicles equipped with a diesel motor line known as the EA 189 had the illegal software. However, Volkswagen said it was investigating whether some versions of another diesel motor line, known as the EA 288, also had software intended to detect when a vehicle was undergoing emissions testing and turn on pollution controls.
A Volkswagen spokesman would not comment on how many more cars might be affected. Since 2012, the EA 288 has been installed in vehicles like the best-selling Golf, suggesting that the number of additional cars could be in the millions. The EA 288 was also installed in cars sold in the United States.
A 2-liter, four-cylinder version of the EA 288 was installed in Golf, Jetta and Passat cars sold in the United States beginning in 2012. The motor was more powerful than the EA 189, the magazine said, and treated emissions partly by recycling some exhaust gases into the motor. In addition, like the EA 189, the motor had a system to inject the chemical urea into the exhaust, which if designed properly could neutralize most of the nitrogen oxide emissions.
Stay tuned as further developments occur in this ongoing story.