Exposers of VW Diesel Cheating Cite Similar Issues for FCA

Diesel-powered vehicles marketed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV emit as much as 20 times the legal amount of nitrogen oxides pollution during real-world driving, according to the researchers who uncovered Volkswagen AG’s diesel cheating two years ago.

The West Virginia University lab that discovered an illegal software “defeat device” in 4-cylinder VW diesels says the behavior of diesels used in FCA’s Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and Ram 1500 pickup trucks suggests a similar issue.

The group stopped short of accusing FCA of cheating. But the researchers report significant differences between emissions of nitrogen oxides in vehicles driven over an actual test loop and those that replicated the same route on a static dynamometer. The gap suggests differences in engine control that shouldn’t be there.

Earlier work by the WVU team and others has turned up evidence suggesting that cheater software can detect the lack of steering wheel movement, inferring that a lab-based emission test is underway. The software would then permit excessive NOx emission when it concluded the vehicle was being driven on actual roadways.

FCA insists it hasn’t deliberately attempted to skirt emission laws. The company points to inherent differences between official emission tests and real-world driving, for which there are no standard test protocols.