Germany Reportedly Investigating Porsche for Potential Emissions Cheating
Reports claim Porsche may have used an emissions cheat similar to the one Audi revealed to have used.
German investigators are looking to see if Porsche—owned by Volkswagen Group—illegally tampered with its cars' emissions test results in a manner not dissimilar to the way sister brand Audi did, according to a new report.
The German Transport Ministry and Federal Motor Transport Authority are investigating to see if Porsche used some form of cheat device to manipulate emissions and fuel consumption test results to make their cars seem more efficient to regulators, Bloomberg reported.
German publication WirtschaftsWoche previously reported that anonymous sources close to Porsche told investigators about the alleged test manipulation.
The German automaker told Bloomberg that its cars did not use cheating devices and that the company is working with officials for their investigation.
WirtschaftsWoche reported that the Porsche cars in question apparently used cheat devices that could tell when the vehicle was being tested by monitoring steering inputs, enabling it to predict when it was being used on a rolling road and when the car was actually in motion. Porsche explained that its cars can indeed monitor steering inputs, but that technology is only put to work to help deliver a better driving experience, not for emissions testing.
If the reports are true, this would be the latest in a seemingly endless list of emissions-related scandals for the VW Group. In the fallout of the Dieselgate scandal, VW has so far put $19.7 billion away for fines and other fees relating to the 11 million diesel cars sold globally with engines that emit more pollutants than the carmaker first admitted. Following the historic mess, automotive regulators around the world have become stricter and more aware of how automakers report their cars' emissions figures—and how the results are reported and confirmed.
