EPA Puts US Carmakers on Notice for Potential Emissions Rigging

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The US government regulator that accused Volkswagen of gaming emissions tests with illicit software has notified car manufacturers in the United States it will go after them next.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered the German company last week to recall 482,000 of its diesel-engine vehicles whose emissions kits were fitted with so-called defeat devices. The gadgets in the cars were found to have curbed emissions results by up to 40 times the real greenhouse gas levels.

"Today the EPA released a letter sent to vehicle manufacturers notifying them that the agency is adding to its confirmatory testing additional evaluations designed to look for potential defeat devices," the agency said late Friday.

The letter itself states the watchdog may conduct or request a test of any US vehicle at a designated location "for the purposes of investigating a potential defeat device."

Volkswagen, who had assessed up to 11 million of its cars worldwide may be fitted with the device that turns on and off emissions controls, said later an internal probe revealed 5 million passenger cars operating the rigged software.