Report Says Bosch Software Enabled Diesel Cheating

Engine control software developed by Robert Bosch GmbH has been used for years by Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to evade government emission tests, according to researchers at the University of California and Germany’s Ruhr-Universitat Bochum.

The study, How They Did It: An Analysis of Emission Defeat Devices in Modern Automobiles, reports “strong evidence” that so-called defeat devices were “created by Bosch and then enabled by Volkswagen and (FCA) for their respective vehicles,” Bloomberg News reports.

The researchers also reiterate an earlier declaration by Bosch that carmakers are ultimately responsible for how they use the supplier’s pollution-control software. Bosch, which previously described assertions of its culpability “wild and unfounded,” says it won’t comment further on matters “under investigation and litigation.”

The study was authored by Kirill Levchenko, a UC-San Diego computer science. He says the team bases its conclusions on an analysis of technical documents that were marked with Bosch copyright notice and posted on a VW portal for enthusiasts and repair shops. Because the team didn’t obtain the documents directly from Bosch, Levechenko says it can’t guarantee their authenticity.

The documents show how a defeat device could detect when an emission test is under way. VW has admitted that diesels it sold in the U.S. were equipped to meet government standards during a emission test but then allow emissions to soar by a factor of 40 under real-world driving conditions.

The analysis was supported by the European Research Council and U.S. National Science Foundation. The report was presented to an IEEE symposium on security and privacy held in San Jose, Calif., last month.