MB Diesel Emissons Probe Uncovers Defeat Device

[tjts1]

Investigators have found what could be illegal software modifications on Mercedes-Benz diesels intended to help the vehicles pass emissions testing. An engine management function called Slipguard recognized whether the car was undergoing testing procedures while another, called Bit 15, halted emissions cleaning after roughly 16 miles of driving. Together, the two pieces of software may amount to what is known within the industry as a “defeat device.”

When paired the software apparently enabled the cars to produce NOx levels up to 10 times higher than what is legally permitted. Interestingly, Mercedes-Benz issued a voluntary recall upon roughly 3 million European cars last month to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by tweaking their electronic control units.

German media outlet Bild am Sonntag, has also cited confidential emails between Mercedes’ engineers that questioned whether the software functions were legal to use. Daimler has been under pressure in the diesel exhaust scandal for some time. Stuttgart prosecutors and the U.S. Department of Justice have both been investigating the issue since the spring of 2017.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche has repeatedly emphasized, since the outbreak of Volkswagen’s diesel sandal over two years ago, that vehicles from Mercedes-Benz had not and would not be manipulated.

U.S. Diesel Probe Uncovers Possible Defeat Device from Mercedes-Benz