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E.P.A. Reveals Some Porsches have Emissions-Cheating Software

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Nov 02, 2015 03:29 PM EST

The global emissions-cheating scandal involving Volkswagen Group is much larger than previously reported.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) announced Monday that it had found illegal cheating software in some Porsche models. On top of these models, the EPA revealed that they have identified the software in even more Volkswagen and Audi cars. The software allows the cars to cheat during the emissions testing.

"VW has once again failed its obligation to comply with the law that protects clean air for all Americans," Cynthia Giles, with the Office for EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said in a statement via FOX News. "All companies should be playing by the same rules. EPA, with our state, and federal partners, will continue to investigate these serious matters, to secure the benefits of the Clean Air Act, ensure a level playing field for responsible businesses, and to ensure consumers get the environmental performance they expect."

"Today, we're requiring VW Group to address these issues," added Richard Corey, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board. Reported by the Los Angeles Times. "This is a very serious public health matter. We're continuing to conduct a rigorous investigation of more vehicles until all the facts are out in the open."

According to the E.P.A., the car company had used this particular device in the light-duty diesel models with 3.0-liter engines. The models spanned from 2014 to 2016. In the latest notice, the cars that were listed included the 2014 VW Touareg, the 2015 Porsche Cayenne and the 2016 Audi A6 Quattro. Overall, the notice involved about 10,000 passenger cars that were sold in the U.S.

The emissions-cheating scandal first surfaced in September when the E.P.A. reported that Volkswagen installed the software in several of its 2.0-liter diesel cars. The E.P.A. explained that the software would be turned on during emissions testing but then shut off during daily use. By turning the software off, these cars were emitting up to 40 times the legal limit of the pollutant, nitrogen oxide, which has been linked to respiratory health problems.

Volkswagen will be responsible for recalling and fixing 482,000 cars. The company has not commented on how they will fix these vehicles. It did, however, admit to installing the software on 11 million cars throughout the world. The German company announced that it would be setting aside 7.27 billion dollars to fix the cars involved.

Volkswagen's chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, resigned from his post a few days after the start of the scandal. Several other high-ranking officials suspected of being involved have been suspended.

For more information, visit the E.P.A. page here.

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