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California Steps Up Search for Emission-Test Cheaters

The California Air Resources Board says it will use newly expanded testing capabilities to look for carmakers that use secret software to evade emission laws, Bloomberg News reports.
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The California Air Resources Board says it will use newly expanded testing capabilities to look for carmakers that use secret software to evade emission laws, Bloomberg News reports.

CARB says it will “aggressively pursue” any wrongdoers, require such manufacturers to fix the problem and levy its own penalties against them.

The agency did not mention Audi in its statement. But last weekend Germany’ Bild reported that CARB discovered a software program in an unidentified Audi model in May that was being used to lower carbon dioxide emissions—and thereby improve fuel economy—only during an emission test. Audi had stopped using the program by then, according to the German newspaper.

The software, which Bild says was used in gasoline and diesel powered Audi A6 and A8 large sedans and Q5 crossover vehicles in Europe, detects when a test is being performed and temporarily modifies the behavior of the automatic transmission.

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