Fiat Chrysler to Modify 100,000 Vehicles After Accusations of Emissions Cheating
On Friday, Fiat Chrysler said it was modifying Jeep Grand Cherokees
and Ram 1500 diesel vehicles in the 2014 through 2016 model years with "updated emissions software calibrations." It said it was also seeking regulatory approval for 2017 models with the same software.
Academic researchers on both sides of the Atlantic said separately this week
that they had found that Fiat Chrysler’s diesel vehicles had suspiciously high pollution levels and that there was evidence the company had used a so-called defeat device, software intended to allow a vehicle to pass official emissions tests but to pollute more when driven on the highway.
By JACK EWINGMAY 19, 2017
Fiat Chrysler said on Friday that it would modify around 100,000 diesel vehicles to try to reach a settlement with United States regulators, as separate academic studies provided mounting evidence
that the carmaker had installed software meant to evade emissions standards.
Mr. Carder said he did not try to determine whether the Fiat Chrysler vehicles were equipped with so-called defeat devices, but said
that such big discrepancies between lab and road tests were unusual.
Dan Carder, director of a renowned vehicle emissions program at West Virginia University, said a diesel Ram pickup tested by
the group produced up to 20 times as much harmful nitrogen oxides on the road than under controlled conditions in a lab.
But the emissions question has kept Fiat Chrysler from selling any diesel Ram or Grand Cherokee vehicles this year because the E.P.A.